Fallen
by AJHLing
Summary: Shinjitsu Miyako has no one left. She is the last of her clan and she is struggling to survive. That is, until one day she is found and placed into the care of the Haruno family. Follow her as she makes friends, develops a crush (or two), and is betrayed by someone she trusts. (I obviously do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto)
1. Chapter 1

**Part I**

"We all want love,

We all want honour,

But no one wants to pay the asking price"

Undone by FFH

**Chapter One**

**The** snow drifted down, covering the earth in white as people rushed to get home. A storm was predicted by the meteorologists and no one wanted to get caught in it. Of course, thanks to their rushing and mild panic, no one noticed the small shape huddled underneath a nearby bench. Nor did they notice its skin that was slowly starting to turn blue due to the icy weather. The shape in question was a small, purple-haired girl. She was only four years old, and not even a month ago her parents were assassinated by the elders of the very village that they had been loyal to.

She brought her knees closer to her body, hoping it would help to keep her warm. She wished, and not for the first time, that she had the chance to grab some things before her house was up in flames – before her family was killed. All she had was the clothes on her back, which consisted of a pink shirt, black leggings, a black and pink hooded jumper, and black and pink enclosed ninja sandals that were designed for cold and wet weather use.

"They say the storm will be the worst one in ten years," a woman said as she walked past with a man and a small child holding onto her hands.

"Then we should probably get inside quickly," the man replied.

_Storm?_ The small girl thought, shivering at the thought. She could hardly hold on in normal winter weather, a storm would be the death of her, and she knew it.

_I need to find somewhere for shelter, _she thought as she forced herself to crawl out from underneath the bench, which gave her very little protection from the elements.

She stood up and made her way further into the village, knowing it will be easier to find a proper place to wait out the storm amongst the alleys in the centre of town. As the girl walked, the streets became void of all life. She knew that besides the shinobi in charge of making sure everyone was safe – and other orphans – everyone would be indoors. She knew that she should take the opportunity to steal some decent food, but she was more concerned about the storm. No point in eating when you will freeze to death in the end.

She reached the centre of the village, noting that the shops and restaurants were all closed, though she could still sense the movement of other people in most of them; probably people who wouldn't be able to beat the storm home. The girl moved towar5ds an alley between a shinobi weapons shop and a ramen store. The buildings on both sides should help protect her from at least some of the elements.

She looked around as she entered the alleyway, grinning when she saw boxes everywhere. She some of them and started to make a home against the wall of the weapons store. It wasn't much, but it was more than she usually had as garbage was picked up each day in the centre of the village.

The girl crawled into the box fort, laying against the cold brick wall behind her. This was what the girl's life was like now. Looking at her now, you'd never think she was once a part of a wealthy and well-respected clan. Nor would you think that she going to be the next clan leader. In fact, she was in the middle of training with her parents when the massacre began. Her parents had shoved her into a secret passage – one designed for hiding in the event of an attack – telling her to get away from the compound, just as some shinobi arrived to kill them.

"Everyone's insides."

The girl looked out at the opening of her box fort, seeing two ANBU standing in front of her box fort. Like all ANBU, they wore masks in the shapes of animals to cover the identity. She wondered, and not for the first time upon seeing ANBU, if these two ANBU had a role in her clan's massacre. She shivered at the thought of the masked shinobi who cut her parents down right in front of her, as she had been able to see through a small crack in the door. She remembers some of her parents' blood falling on her face as they had both fallen, headless, over the crack.

She felt the urge to sneeze and tried to hold it in until the ANBU were gone. But she wasn't a trained shinobi, and stopping bodily sounds was a skill she had yet to learn, so of course, she failed in her attempt to hold back the sneeze, and the sneeze broke the silence of the area. The ANBU were startled at the sound, having not sensed anyone nearby. They look around until their gaze fell on the pile of unassuming boxes, where they were surprised to see the small girl hiding.

"S-stay b-back!" the girl ordered when she noticed that they were making their way towards her. The two ANBU stared in surprise at the fear in the young girl's tone, never hearing true fear coming from one of their own. Sure, they were regularly met with weariness, but never fear.

"We're not going to hurt you," the ANBU wearing a mask in the shape of a mouse stated, trying to calm the frightened girl. "We'll take you somewhere safe."

"No! Leave me alone!" the girl ordered with a fierce glare.

The two ANBU glanced at each other before the mouse masked ANBU lunged forward and took her out of her hiding place. She yelled in anger and fear, struggling to get out of his grip as he and his partner headed towards the Hokage building, having decided that something was amiss with the girl and that they should ask the Hokage what to do with her.

When they arrived, they went to the Hokage, who was still in his office. It turns out a disaster was no excuse to fall behind on his paperwork. Of course, he was surprised when the two ANBU appeared with a small girl trying to escape. The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, couldn't help but find it amusing, seeing his ANBU disgruntled because of a small child.

"Hokage-sama, we found this girl hiding in an alleyway. She seems to be scared of us ANBU, so we thought we'd bring her to you," the ANBU with a mask in the shape of a frog explain, noting that his partner was too busy trying to calm the girl down.

"Put her down," Hiruzen ordered, and the mouse masked ANBU was more than happy to place the girl on the ground.

The second her feet touched the ground, she rushed off and hid behind a pot plant in the corner of the office – though it did little to hide her from view. She didn't trust anyone, and she blamed the Hokage for her family's death. In fact, if it was easier, she would have left the village months ago in search for a teacher to train her up so she could enact her revenge on the village for her family's massacre.

"We're not going to hurt you," Hiruzen stated in surprise at the girl's reaction to everyone. The ANBU he understood, they were intimidating with their masks, but him?

"Tell that to Mama and Papa," the girl sneered, glaring at him with vivid blue eyes.

"So, you do have parents?" Hiruzen questioned, and the girl glared at him harder, hatred in her eyes.

"I _had_ parents," she spat out, "_you_ killed them."

Hiruzen and the two ANBU were surprised at this accusation, all three studying the girl, hoping to figure out what she meant by just looking at her. After a minute of them staring at her, the Third gasped in surprise.

"Are you of the Shinjitsu Clan?" Hiruzen questioned, the ANBU balking in surprise by her question.

The purple-haired girl's lips formed a straight line as she reluctantly nodded, everyone, staring in shock, having thought everyone in the Shinjitsu Clan had died when the compound had gone up into flames only a few short months ago.

"You said I killed your, family, what do you mean?" Hiruzen questioned, not understanding the situation, but starting to guess what happened that night in late Autumn.

"I-I s-saw people dressed l-like them," the girl stuttered out, pointing to the two ANBU, "they k-killed Mama and Papa b-before setting my home on f-fire."

The Thirds eyes narrowed, having suspected previously that the Shinjitsu Clans death wasn't an acceded like it was made out to be. This small, frightened girl confirmed his suspicions. He knew he'd have to have a chat with the council about this situation.

"I can assure you, I did not know the attack," Hiruzen stated, and the girl looked at him in surprise. "However, I still feel it is my fault that you are alone like this. Please allow me to help."

The girl studied the man, sensing that he was telling the truth. Her clan name, which meant truth, was no accident after all. They had a kekkei genkai feared as much as the famous Sharingan. But not for the same reasons. The Shinjitsu no Me, allowed the user to sense lies when being told to them and – in later stages – allow the person to read, enter, and change one's mind and thoughts. Because of this, no one like someone knowing every little bit about themselves and the clan was feared because of it.

"Y-you're telling the truth," she stated simply, stepping out from behind the plant she had been hiding behind.

"You have the Shinjitsu no Me?" Hiruzen questioned and the girl nodded. "The Eye of Truth?" he confirmed, and the girl nodded once again in confirmation. "And what is your name, and who are you, parents?"

"I am Shinjitsu Miyako, daughter of the ex-clan head Shinjitsu Kazuo and his wife Shinjitsu Naomi. Princess and I guess, the current head, of the Shinjitsu Clan,"

**...**

Finding a place for an orphan to live – especially one that is the last survivor and current head of her clan – is no easy task. Sarutobi Hiruzen – more commonly known as the Third Hokage, the Professor, or the God of Shinobi – learnt this quite quickly. Unlike many other orphans in the village, most of whom are the children of criminals and low-level shinobi, Miyako needs proper protection, as such, she couldn't simply be placed in an orphanage like what he had done with another high-level orphan.

It angered Hiruzen as he kept thinking about what the village elders told him not even thirty minutes ago. It also angered the elderly Hokage knowing that one Shimura Danzo wants to train Miyako to be a member of ANBU Root (an organisation under the control of Danzo instead of the Hokage). He knew if the girl fell into Danzo's hands, she would be sucked into the darkness that all ANBU Root fall into – and very few ever fall out of.

Hiruzen sat in his chair, hands crossed under his chin, and an almost angry look in his usually gentle brown eyes. Not too far from him, Miyako sat, drawing on some paper Hiruzen had gotten for her, awaiting news on what was to become of her.

_I need to have her under watch by someone I trust completely,_ Hiruzen thought, immediately crossing anyone in Root, family and friends of Danzo and the elders, and even Uchiha Clan – who were currently being monitored under suspicion of being the ones to have released, and controlled, the Kyuubi during the attack two years ago – off his list.

Hiruzen's gaze fell to the girl who had now switched from a purple pencil to an orange one. _She'll also need to be with someone who can protect her from inside and outside threats, as well as someone who will be able to give her the love, she needs to grow into a loyal shinobi of Konohagakure. _

Hiruzen thought of the Hyūga Clan before quickly dismissing them. There was a discourse in that clan between the Main and Branch families, and the clan rarely ever let outsiders in, _especially _orphans not their own. Hiruzen doubted that any of the other clans would like to have an outside – especially one that can read minds and know when someone is lying – so close to their secrets, even the non-traditional clans such as the Yamanaka and Nara Clan were distrustful of people when it came of their clan jutsus. Then again, the Yamanaka Clan _were_ distantly related to the Shinjitsu Clan.

"Why not place me with civilians or low-ranking shinobi?" Miyako questioned, making the Hokage startled as he realised the girl was now next to him.

"It wouldn't be safe, Miyako-hime," Hiruzen stated, wondering how they knew what he was thinking, Surely, she hadn't activated the second stage already.

Miyako frowned in confusion. "No one would look for me there."

Hiruzen's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the logic in the girls' answer. He knew that Danzo wouldn't think that Hiruzen would hide the girl among civilians or weak level shinobi. However, he knew that the one flaw in his plan would be lack of guards and finding a family with similar features to her.

His eyes widened as he thought of the perfect family. Two chūnin who already had a daughter. Hiruzen knew that the features of the male made many believe he had relations to the Shinjitsu Clan – though there was none in recent history. Hiruzen knew that that family would be perfect.

"Mouse!" Hiruzen called, and the mouse masked ANBU appeared in a low bow in front of him.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Fetch Haruno Kizashi, I have a mission for him and his family."

**...**

Fifteen minutes later, a man with dull pink hair – often thought to be purple – walked in. he was alone and covered with snow from the blizzard outside. If the Hokage hadn't called for him, he wouldn't have left his wife and two-year-old daughter alone. Once he entered, he bowed towards the Hokage, only slightly surprised to see a young child standing next to him.

"Ah, Kizashi-san, I have a very important mission for you. So important, in fact, that it's pretty much an S-Rank mission," the Hokage explained, making the man stare at him in surprise.

"Sir, I am a chūnin," Kizashi stated simply, wondering if old age was finally getting to the Hokage, after all, s-rank missions only fell to ANBU and the occasional jōnin.

Hiruzen smiled and gestured to the girl. "I want you and your family to take her in, treating her as if she were your own."

Kizashi smiled at the girl who smiled back, before turning back to Hiruzen. "But Hokage-sama, how is this an s-rank mission?"  
"You are aware of the destruction the Shinjitsu Clan," Hiruzen paused to make sure that Kizashi was, in fact, away of this fact before continuing. "It was no accident; the elders of our village ordered the assassination of everyone in the clan."

"What?" Kizashi gasped in shock, his blue eyes wide as saucers, having never thought his village elders could do something like that.

"The men sent didn't do their job properly," Hiruzen explained, gesturing to the girl again. "This is Shinjitsu Miyako, daughter of the now-dead clan leaders Shinjitsu Kazuo and Shinjitsu Naomi. Even now, Miyako-chan is not safe. I'm placing her in your families care because I believe no one would look for her there. In return, I will pay you an allowance to care for her until she is able to care for herself."

Kizashi glanced at the girl, understanding how important it was to care for her and keep her safe. He feared he wouldn't be able to do it, but knew that if Hiruzen thought he could, he must at least try.

Kizashi knelt in front of the girl with a wide and kind smile. "Welcome to the family, Shinjitsu... no, _Haruno_ Miyako."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**When **Kizashi and Miyako got to his home, a standard two-bedroom house just outside of the centre of the village, Haruno Mebuki was in the kitchen preparing lunch for her daughter, husband, and herself. She concerned at Kizashi being summoned by the Hokage, so used cooking as a way to distract her mind.

"Kizashi, how was your meeting?" Mebuki questioned her husband after hearing the front door open and him entering the house.

"Honey, we have a guest," Kizashi replied as he slipped his shoes off, Miyako following his motions, setting them up neatly next to the other pairs of shoes in the genkan – which is the main entrance of the house where shoes are removed and kept.

"A guest?" Mebuki questioned in surprise as she walked into the hallway leading the genkan, staring in surprise when she saw Miyako standing next to her husband. "Oh? Who is this?"

Miyako bowed to the blonde-haired woman. "I'm Shinjitsu Miyako, pleased to meet you Haruno-san."

Mebuki stared in surprise at the girl, having thought – along with everyone else – that all the Shinjitsu Clan had perished in the fire. "Nice to meet you too, Miyako-chan," Mebuki greeted with a kind smile, looking to her husband for answers.

"Miyako-chan is my, _our_, mission. Hokage-sama has put us in charge of her safety and wellbeing. As of today, she is our niece Haruno Miyako," Kizashi explained nervously, worried that his wife would get angry at the sudden development.

Mebuki grinned. "Oh, that's great! I wanted a playmate for Sakura, now she has a cousin who will be like a sister to her!" Mebuki explained, before holding a hand out to Miyako. "Come with me to meet your cousin. Kizashi, you can finish making lunch."

Kizashi groaned playfully but nodded and went to the kitchen as Miyako took her new aunt's hand. Mebuki led Miyako up the stairs and to a room where a little girl around Miyako's age played with some pink character blocks.

"Sakura-chan, I want you to meet your new roommate and cousin Miyako," Mebuki explained and the little girl with pink hair grinned, standing up and wobbling over to Miyako.

"Hewo! Pway?" Sakura questioned, and Miyako looked at Mebuki in confirmation.

"Go ahead, just be gentle, she's two years younger than you," Mebuki explained and Miyako nodded in understanding before walking into the room and sitting on the floor with Sakura and stacking up the boxes.

Mebuki smiled gently before walking out. She knew that this was going to be good for her daughter and the young heiress.

**...**

The next day, two days after Miyako was found by ANBU, she was with Kizashi in the main part of the village. Mebuki was at home with a sleeping Sakura, and Miyako was board. She knew that the only reason Kizashi has brought her with him was that she was getting restless. Of course, she didn't mind as she followed him as he did his errands for his wife.

Miyako paused in front of a store, a shining hair clip catching her eye in the window. She couldn't help but smile at its beauty. She dragged her gaze away from the object, prepared to go back to Kizashi. Unfortunately, Kizashi hadn't realised the girl had stopped and kept walking, fading into the crowds.

_Great,_ Miyako sighed, _stupid shiny thing._

Miyako decided to walk to a nearby park, knowing that Kizashi will probably look for her there. She had told her aunt and uncle about how things were with her clan – including how when she went out, she told to go to the nearest park if she were to get separated from the others.

She walked into the snow-filled park, noting that only one other person was there. She studied the person. It was a male, about seven, maybe eight, years old. He had fair skin, dark hair and matching dark eyes. She decided to approach the boy, not even considering that he could be dangerous.

"Are you a shinobi?" Miyako questioned the boy, startling him as he hadn't noticed the girl had walked up to him.

He studied her, taking in her blue eyes and unusual purple hair. He could sense some chakra emitting from her, more than others her age. He suspected she may be from a shinobi family.

"Yes," the boy replied, watching as the girl tilted her head in fascination at the boy.

"You look young," she stated matter of factly.

"I graduated early," the boy replied, and the girl grinned.

"I'm Haruno Miyako, nice to meet you," the girl finally introduced herself, making the boy frown in confusion, knowing that Haruno was not a clan name. The girls frowned at him when he didn't respond. "This is the part where you tell me your name, shinobi-san."

The boy's lips twitched in amusement at her nickname for him. "I'm Uchiha Itachi."

Miyako grinned. "Want to play hide and seek with me?"

"Where are your parents?" Itachi questioned, ignoring her question for something more important.

Miyako frowned, puffing her cheeks out in annoyance. "Shiny objects," she muttered, glaring at nothing in particular.

Itachi was confused for a second before he chuckled. "You got distracted by a shiny object and lost your parents?"

Miyako nodded, her cheeks going red. "Yes, but I don't have parents. I live with my aunt and uncle."

"Miyako-chan!" Itachi watched as a man with dull pink hair rushed into the park, looking at Miyako with worry in his eyes.

"Kizashi-ji!" Miyako called and ran up to the man, giving him a hug on the legs.

He picked her up. "I was so worried when I realised you were gone. Mebuki would've killed me if something happened to you." _As would the Hokage_, he added in his mind as an afterthought, which Miyako caught.

Miyako smiled a cheeky grin. "Sorry Kizashi-ji, I got distracted by a shiny object. I'll be more careful," Miyako explained and Kizashi nodded in agreement, his blue gaze falling onto the boy on the bench whom Miyako had been talking to.

"Did you find her?" Kizashi questioned, and Itachi shook his head.

"She found me. I was going to stay with her until someone found her," Itachi explained and Kizashi smiled gratefully.

"Then thank you for keeping her company. Say goodbye Miyako-chan, we're going home," Kizashi stated and Miyako grinned at Itachi, waving at him as Kizashi carried her away.

"Bye Itachi-kun, I hope to see you again soon," she called out before facing the front and starting to chat with Kizashi. She missed the small smile on Itachi's lips and the thought that crossed his mind of him wanting to see her again too.

**...**

For Miyako, the days started to blur together. She missed her real family, but she cared deeply for the Haruno's, and they cared deeply for her too. She had finally gotten used to the surname Haruno. It took a month, and close slip-ups were commonplace for the girl, and even her guardians, but they got there in the end.

"Look Mi!" Sakura called as she ran up to Miyako, showing a cherry blossom flower to her. "It's me!"

Miyako cracked a smile, having fallen in deep, familial love with her not-cousin. She saw Sakura as the little sibling she always wanted and knew she'd do all she can to keep her safe. "It's pretty, Sakura," Miyako stated.

She and Sakura were at a park near their home. It was a warm spring day, and the cherry blossoms have started to bloom, washing away the horrid winter and the storm it had brought with it. Though, said storm brought something good with it, a new home and family for Miyako, so she wasn't too upset with it.

Sakura climbed onto Miyako's lap and put the flower in her hair, a wide grin on her lips. "There."

Miyako giggled and watched as Sakura ran off to play on the slide. Miyako stayed seated in the grass under a cherry blossom tree. She had a hard time truly letting herself have fun, and considering what she went through, it is not surprising that she was far too mature for her age. It was this maturity that allowed Miyako to take Sakura to the park without parental observation.

"Play hide!" Sakura announced with a grin from in front of Miyako, surprising the girl as she hadn't realised Sakura had returned from the slide.

Miyako was confused at the girl's exclamation, having trouble understanding what the girl meant. That was until her eyes widened as she realised what the girl said. "You want to play hide and seek?" Miyako questioned and Sakura nodded with a wide grin on her face. "OK, I'll count to ten and you go hide somewhere in the park, OK?"

Sakura grinned and nodded as Miyako turned around to face the tree behind her and starting to count slowly so Sakura could find a good hiding spot (or as good of a hiding spot a soon to be three-year-old could find).

Once Miyako reached ten, she grinned and turned around to face the park. "Ready or not, here I come!"

Miyako heard a small giggle and walked towards the tunnel in the playground. Miyako, of course, pretended to not know Sakura's location. After a few minutes of Sakura giggling, and Miyako pretending not to know where she is, Miyako decided it was time to 'find' Sakura.

She returned to the tunnel but froze when she sensed something was amiss. Moving in front of the tunnel's entrance, she turned to face the rest of the park, trying to note something out of place. She couldn't figure it out, but she knew something was wrong.

"You could sense me, so you _are_ Shinjitsu Miyako," a sly, cold voice stated simply from the shadows, making Miyako tense up, preparing to protect herself and her cousin if she had to.

"Who are you?" Miyako demanded in nervous anticipation.

"Someone who's going to... liberate you from this god-forsaken village. Someone who will make you the best you can be," the male voice replied and out of the shadows a man with long black hair seemingly appeared.

"No, I'm not going anywhere," Miyako spat out, fear filling up her body as she sensed nothing but death and greed from the man in front of her.

"You're acting as if I'm giving you a choice," the man stated with a smirk before lunging at the girl.

She didn't think as she blocked his attack and kicked him back. The man was surprised, having thought she wouldn't be able to protect herself even a little bit. He chuckled as the girl charged towards him, preparing to punch him in the face, but he easily blocked it, grabbing onto her small fist.

"Well, aren't you cute?" the man questioned as the girl tried to get out of his grip. "There is more potential in you than I initially thought. I'll make a weapon out of you yet."

The man went to grab her, but jumped back, letting the girl go as he came to face with a dozen ANBU. "Orochimaru, by order of the Hokage, you are to leave the girl and the village alone, immediately," an ANBU ordered and Orochimaru laughed.

"I will leave for now, but I'll be back," he promised before vanishing.

**...**

Miyako was unable to breathe as Mebuki squished her, tears streaming down the blonde woman's face. She had been like that since Miyako was brought home after spending two hours with the Hokage trying to figure out what had happened and how Orochimaru had heard wind of Miyako's continued existence.

"Mebuki-ba, I'm fine. What about Sakura?" Miyako squealed out as she pushed the woman off her. Miyako was more worried about her cousin than she was herself.

"Sakura is fine. She's sleeping," Mebuki replied, her body shaking at the thought of potentially losing both her daughter and adopted niece.

"I'm glad. I was so scared for her," Miyako replied with a soft smile.

Mebuki studied the girl, realising quickly that she seemed almost unaffected about having almost been kidnapped. Then again, she watched her family being massacred right in front of her, perhaps there was more mental damage than they originally thought.

"Are you _sure_ you're alright?" Mebuki questioned and Miyako tilted her head, a question in her eyes. "I mean, you were almost kidnapped."

Miyako's eyes widened in understanding before bursting out in laughter. "It's not the first time, Mebuki-ba. For as long as I can remember, someone was always trying to kidnap me. It's why Mama and Papa had started to train me early. It was the daughter of the clan head after all."

Mebuki was surprised at the girls' statement and went to ask further questions when Kizashi returned from the Hokage's office, a tired look on his face. Mebuki turned to face her husband. "So, what did Lord Hokage have to say about all this?" Mebuki questioned him.

"As of next week, Miyako will start at the academy," Kizashi explained and Mebuki's eyes widened in surprise.

"But... she's not even five yet," Mebuki stated, worried for the girl's safety.

"I will be in about two weeks' time. March 20th is my birthday," Miyako explained and Mebuki sighed.

"I guess we should prepare for schooling," Mebuki stated. "Sakura's going to miss having you around all the time though."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Miyako** was nervous as she led through the halls of the Ninja Academy by the Hokage himself. Mebuki and Kizashi were unable to come as they both had missions, and Sakura was taken to the nearby kindergarten, where she would remain until Miyako finished her classes for the day, at which the two guardians should be finished with their mission.

Miyako will be the youngest in her class, as her skills – which had been tested the week prior – resulted in her being placed with the second-year ninja students – all of whom were six or seven years of age.

They arrived at a door on the first floor, the room number at the top saying 2A. Hiruzen knocked on the door before entering, Miyako staying close behind him as she followed, observing the room, along with her new classmates, and teacher.

"Lord Hokage, how can I help you?" the female teacher with brown hair questioned with a weary smile.

"Abe-san, I have your new student. I trust my message reached you two days ago," Hiruzen stated and the brown-haired woman nodded, her gaze falling to the girl hiding behind the Hokage.

"Of course," the woman replied and Hiruzen nodded before leaving the room. The woman turned to Miyako and gave her a welcoming smile. "Welcome, I'm Abe Haruka. Please stand in front of the class to introduce yourself.

Miyako nodded before turning to face her classmates, all of whom watched her in curiosity. She fidgeted for a second before bowing. "My name is Haruno Miyako, pleased to meet you all. I hope we can get along."

"Thank you Miyako-chan, please take a seat next to Gina-chan," Haruka stated and a girl with silver hair waved her hand at Miyako, who took the seat at the end of the table closest to the centre aisle.

"It's nice to meet you, Haruno-san. I'm Ejiri Gina, if you need any help, I'm happy to help," the girl stated with a kind smile once Miyako was seated.

Miyako gave a smile in return. "Thank you, Ejiri-san," Miyako replied and turned to face the teacher who had started to speak.

"I know we covered this previously, but because of our new student, I'm going to explain our class schedule," Haruka stated and the class sighed, but there was no other sign of complaint. "The first session each day we do arithmetic, second session is reading and writing, third session is science, fourth session is geography and history. We have lunch at twelve, before going outside for weapon use and taijutsu training, back inside we learn the ninja hand signs and basic ninjutsu, and finally, trap setting and genjutsu. No then, I want you to answer the questions on the board. Please call for me if you need any help," Haruka said, gesturing to the equations on the board that the class had already started before being interrupted by the Hokage and Miyako.

**...**

It only took two days for Miyako to settle into the class. She quickly showed great skill in almost all her classes. However, it quickly became obvious the one should never go to her for help on even the most basic of math problems.

Miyako had also gathered a small group of friends. First was the silver-haired, grey eyes desk mate Ejiri Gina, followed by the brown-haired and brown-eyed boy Fuchigami Takeo, and lastly the black-haired and onyx eyed male Uchiha Hisoka.

They all had just finished lunch on the third day and were practising their kunai throwing skills. Unsurprisingly, most students were lucky to get the kunai to the second-largest circle on the target.

Because of this, many got frustrated very quickly, leading many to stop and watch as Miyako and Takeo competed to see who would get the most kunai in the centre. The rules of their competition were simple: they keep throwing kunai until they both run out, or one of them misses the centre, whichever came first.

Next to the competing duo, Gina was trying to help Hisoka with his throwing. Despite being a member of the prestigious Uchiha Clan, he rarely ever hit the target, always missing the target completely. Lucky for him, his family were at the bottom of the Uchiha Clan food chain and the elder didn't care if he failed or not. After all, most figured that, like his parents and their parents before him, he won't awaken the Sharingan, the kekkei genkai of the Uchiha Clan.

"Damn it!" Takeo cursed as he missed the centre of the target by a mere millimetre.

"I guess I win," Miyako stated with a grin as her friend pouted.

"Yeah... well, I won last time so ha!" Takeo declared with a grin, making both Miyako and Gina roll their eyes at his antics.

"OK everyone, time to come back inside," Haruka called and her students grumbled as they packed up and returned to their classroom, most enjoying spending time outside this time of year.

Once everyone was seated, Haruka spoke. "Today I want to see if you all remember the hand signs. I'll be calling them out randomly, and if most of the class get it on the first try, and all the class has gotten it by the second try, we will start with the transformation jutsu tomorrow."

Cheers filled the room before they settled down and Haruka called each student up one at a time to test their knowledge. The result was sixty per cent of the class got them all right on the first go, and the rest got them right on the second go.

"Well then, a deal is a deal. Tomorrow we'll start on the transformation jutsu," Haruka announced with pride at her students. Her class started to cheer, and only calmed down after Haruka held up her hand. "That's tomorrow, for now, pull out your books and turn to Chapter Ten: Disguising Traps."

**...**

The next day, Miyako sat amongst her classmates. They had just finished their kunai throwing and were waiting for Haruka to return to the classroom so they could begin their lesson on their first academy jutsu.

"Can you believe it, Miyako? We get to learn a jutsu!" Gina exclaimed in excitement. "We're finally on our way to truly become shinobi!"

Miyako smiled at her friend's excitement. "Yeah, it'd be good to see if I haven't forgotten how to do the jutsu."

"Wait!" Takeo exclaimed from next to Gina. "Are you saying you can already do this jutsu?"

Miyako nodded with a small smile. "Yep, before I came to live with my aunt and uncle, Mama and Papa taught me how to do some things, that way if anything were to happen to them, I could protect myself."

"Is that why you're so good at everything?" Hisoka questioned from next to Takeo.

"Probably. I'm no prodigy after all. It was just hours upon hours of training," Miyako replied with a nod and a blush on her porcelain face. She looked to the door just as Haruka entered.

"Settle down and we'll begin," Haruka stated and everyone in the class fell silent. Haruka smiled before speaking "Now than before we start, I'm going to go over the details of this jutsu. However, I want to know _you_ know first."

Gina shot her hand up and Haruka gestured to her. "I know that the transformation jutsu is important because it makes our missions easier, especially when we need to disguise ourselves for whatever reason."

Haruka nodded with a smile and was about to speak but was cut off by Hisoka. "I heard it was an E-Rank jutsu and that all ninja academies teach it."

"That's correct, but please hold your hand up before speaking next time," Haruka stated and he nodded with a sheepish grin on his face. "Now then, does anyone know the signs?"

Miyako held up her hand and Haruka nodded her way. "The hand signs are dog, board, and ram. For the transformation to be successful, you need to imagine every detail of the thing you wish to transform into."

"Good job, Miyako. Do you want to try the jutsu first?" Haruka questioned and Miyako nodded.

She stood up and walked to the front of the room where she did the hand seals quickly and transformed into a near-perfect replica of Gina. Everyone in the room, including Haruka, stared in surprise4 at how close to perfect it was.  
"Amazing," Haruka gasped out as Miyako released the jutsu with a smile on her face. "Have you already been taught this jutsu?"

Miyako nodded, a sad look crossing her features. "Yes, Abe-sensei. My Mama and Papa taught me some things before they passed on."

Haruka nodded in understanding, it wasn't uncommon for children of shinobi to know a few things before entering the academy and considering Miyako's placement into a second-year class... well her skills mustn't be lacking.

"I see, well then," Haruka clapped her hands together with a wide grin, "I want all of you to try to do what Miyako had just done. Remember to visualise whom you're turning into. Miyako, you can return to your seat."

**...**

Miyako was nervous. For the first time in her life, she has been invited for dinner at her friend's house. Well, a friend who wasn't a member of her clan anyways.

It has been a little over a month since she started at the academy, and in that time, she became best friends with Uchiha Hisoka. While she was close to both Gina and Takeo, she found herself closest to the Uchiha, so close, in fact, that his parents had invited her over for dinner that night.

"Come on, Mi-chan," Hisoka stated as he grabbed her small hand and led her through the streets to the Uchiha compound. "My parents can't wait to meet the girl who has managed to make me decent at throwing weapons.

"Do you talk about me often, Hi-kun?" Miyako questioned with a giggle, making the seven-year-old boy blush.

"Only a little bit," he admitted with a mumble, making Miyako giggle even more as he led her into the compound, the purple-haired girl attracting attention from the Uchiha's who looked at her in interest. "My home is just this way."

He led her through the Uchiha compound and to his house, which was a traditional Japanese style home sitting on the edge near the back of the compound. The duo walked inside and removed their shoes, lining them up neatly on the floor of the genkan.

"I'm home!" Hisoka called out. "And my friend Miyako-chan is here with me."

At this, a lady with black hair and onyx eyes appeared. She was wearing a light-blue apron, her hair was tied up in a messy bun and flour was on her fair-skinned cheek. She gave the two kids a warm smile.

"Welcome home, Hisoka," she turned to Miyako. "You must be Miyako-chan, I'm Uchiha Shizuka."

"It's nice to meet you, Uchiha-san," Miyako greeted with a bow. "You are correct in assuming I am Haruno Miyako."  
Shizuka's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I was unaware the Haruno's had another daughter."

"I'm their niece. My parents passed away last year, and I was sent to live with them," Miyako explained and Shizuka nodded in understanding.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour's time. Hisoka, why don't you show Miyako-chan your room and then go to the park?" Shizuka suggested and Hisoka grinned.

"Follow me, Mi-chan, I'll show you to my room and then we can go to the nearby park," Hisoka stated, grabbing Miyako's hand and pulling her down a hallway off the kitchen and to his room. "Well, this is it." He said proudly and she looked around the room.

Unlike hers, which she still shared with Sakura, there was no pink in the room and only one single bed. The walls were cream, the floor was dark wood, and on his window, there was a set of dark green blinds. Besides the bed, there a bedside table with a lamp, a desk with a matching chair, a bookcase next to the desk, and a closet.

"It must be great not having to share with anyone," Miyako stated with a wistful sigh.

"Yep," Hisoka boasted before grinning. "Now come on, put your bag down and we'll go to the park," Hisoka stated and Miyako nodded, placing her amber-coloured bag on the ground next to the desk and next to Hisoka's green bag, before following the soon-to-be seven-year-old boy out of the room and into the kitchen where Shizuka was still located.

"We're going to the park!" Hisoka told his mother before he dragged Miyako to the genkan and they slipped their shoes back on, leaving the house and heading down the street to the park located in the Uchiha Compound.

"Why are you in such a rush, Hi-kun?" Miyako questioned with a giggle as the boy practically dragged her down the street and to the opening of the park.

"I just want to spend as much time with you as I can before you have to go home," Hisoka replied as they walked into the park.

Miyako looked at the park, which was pretty much like all other parks she's been to. There was a swing set, one swing for toddlers and the other for older children, a slide, fireman's pole, monkey bars, and trees surrounding the park.

"Are they all your relatives?" Miyako questioned Hisoka as she took in the sight of five other kids all with dark hair and eyes typical of the Uchiha genetics. She wondered briefly if any of them had the Sharingan activated yet.

"Yeah, but don't worry. They're all really cool and should let us play with them if you want," Hisoka replied and Miyako nodded.

"Hey, Hisoka! Can you and your friend join us in playing ninja? We need two more people," one of the girls questioned, and Hisoka looked at Miyako who nodded with excitement at making new friends.

"Sure, we'll play. But I'll warn you, Mi-chan here is almost invincible at this game," Hisoka warned with a grin and the other Uchiha children laughed before the game began.

**...**

The group of children were still going strong in their game, when Miyako squealed happily and ran out of the park, grabbing the arm of an Uchiha who had been passing the park.

"Itachi-kun! It's me, Miyako!" Miyako exclaimed in excitement as the elder Uchiha chuckled, having not forgotten the girl he hadn't seen for almost two months.

"Miyako-chan, what are you doing here?" Itachi questioned.

"Hi-kun invited me over, we're classmates _and_ best friends," Miyako replied and Itachi frowned, not knowing who 'Hi-kun' was, but assuming he was an Uchiha.

"Ah, Itachi-sama," Hisoka gasped out, surprised at how casually his best friend was talking to the next head of the clan.

"Sama?" Miyako questioned in confusion.

"Yeah, didn't you know, Mi-chan? Itachi-sama is the next head of the clan," Hisoka explained and Itachi nodded in agreement, having figured that Hisoka was 'Hi-kun'.

"Oh wow! You're a shinobi _and_ next clan head? You're amazing!" Miyako squealed out in admiration.

Itachi sighed, knowing that that tone of voice meant one thing, he just gained another fangirl. He hoped, though, the Miyako won't be like the others. "Will you be coming over often, Miyako-chan?" Itachi questioned before looking at Hisoka. "And please, Hisoka-san, please call me with 'san'."

"OK Itachi-san, and yeah, I'm going to convince mother and father to let Mi-chan come over every week... ah, that's if you want," Hisoka replied for both of them turning to face Miyako with red cheeks to get confirmation of his statement.

"Of course, I'll come over every week," Miyako replied with a grin and a giggle.

"Hisoka! Miyako-chan! Dinner's ready!" Shizuka called out from the street, staying back as she watched the two children converse with Itachi.

"We need to go. By Itachi-san," Hisoka stated and grabbed Miyako, dragging her away as she called goodbye over her shoulder, upset that she couldn't stay with Itachi for a longer period.

Of course, she didn't know that Itachi was also upset with their conversation being cut short.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

**Miyako** was excited. It's been just under two years since she started at the academy and, along with everyone else in her class, she was given the chance to try and graduate early. The exams were two days ago, and only Miyako, Takeo, and Hisoka passed the exam. Of course, Miyako and Gina had cried when they heard the news, both complaining about being separated, but made promises to hang out when they can.

Miyako had turned seven on the day of the exam, and Takeo and Hisoka were both going to be ten by the end of the year along with Gina. She and her friends (Takeo and Hisoka) hope they'll be placed together. Takeo thought it was bound to happen (what with all three being the youngest in the graduating group and already knowing each other and their moves he figured that the placement of them on a team was beyond obvious).

They were in the classroom with the other graduates, most were twelve or thirteen, but there were some who were eleven and one who was fourteen and had to be kept down in previous years. No one paid any mind to others outside of those that they knew, so when Miyako, Takeo, and Hisoka arrived in the designated orientation room they decided to sit together near the front of the room, closest to the doors.

"Do you think we'll be placed together?" Hisoka questioned his friends making Miyako smile at her best friend.

"I don't see why not. Like what Takeo said previously, we're friends and have been in the same class for most of our schooling. We already work well together, they'd be silly not to let us be a team," Miyako explained.

"I hope we get to be together. I don't think I can handle being without you, Miyako," Hisoka stated and Takeo shot a smirk to his friend.

"What? You wouldn't miss me?" Takeo questioned making Hisoka flush red.

"Ah! Of course, I would miss you! I just mean..." Hisoka babbled on whilst Takeo sat back in his seat, smirking at his flustered friend.

"Come on guys, the teacher is here," Miyako hissed out, making the two boys fall quiet and bring their attention up to the male teacher who just walked into the room.

"OK then, I'm here to give you your teams. Once I announce them, you will wait here for your jōnin instructor. Now first up is Team 1." Miyako shifted nervously as she listened intently as the names were called. There were cheers from some and complaints from others as the teams were called, though nothing overly distracting.

"Next, Team 4... Fuchigami Takeo, Uchiha Hisoka, and Haruno Miyako," the teacher announced, and the three friends gave each other a high five as the teacher continued until all the teams were called out. "Now then, your jōnin instructors should be here soon. Maybe take the time to get into your new teams and meet each other," the teacher explained before he sat down at the desk and started doing some paperwork.

"Yes!" Miyako stated she brought her friend into a group hug, not noticing the red tinge to Hisoka's cheek. "I'm so happy we didn't get separated. Too bad Gina couldn't be here with us."

"Even if she passed, we would've been separated," Takeo stated and Miyako sighed.  
"I know, but I feel like we're leaving her behind. From now on we won't have time for others outside out team like we used to," Miyako stated and the two boys nodded in agreement.

The three sat, leaning back on their chairs as they thought about their future. As they sat in silence, jōnin instructors arrived taking their new teams with them. Soon enough, with only three teams left, a man with dark brown, curly hair stepped into the room.

"Team 4?" he called and the three friends shot out of their seats before walking up to their new teacher. He looked down at them with almond-shaped, dark brown eyes. He didn't seem all that happy with his team. "Come with me, we will find a place to converse."

The three genin shot glances to each other as their teacher turned on his heels and walked out of the room. The genin followed him as he led them out of the Academy and towards a training field. The man sat on a boulder, playing with a kunai as the genins sat in front of him on the green grass in a semi-circle.

"I am Higa Tsuneo, and from this day on – if I think you're worth it – I will be your jōnin instructor. Because of this, you three will be sparing with me to show me your skills. If I like them, I won't send you back to the Academy," the jōnin explained in a dull voice, his gaze flicking over the three awestruck genin. "Now then, which one of you is the oldest?"

"I am, Tsuneo-sensei," Takeo stated, holding up his hand. "I am—"

Tsuneo held up his hand, a frown on his face. "I have no interest in your names until you pass my test. Now then, I will test you first," Tsuneo stated simply before looking at his other maybe-students. "You two are to watch from the sidelines. If I am to test you all individually, the others can't interfere. Understand?"

"Yes, Tsuneo-sensei," Miyako replied as she and Hisoka got up, dusting themselves off before stepping to the very edge of the training field, the friends giving Takeo a smile and a thumbs up in encouragement.

"How do you think this is going to go, Miyako?" Hisoka questioned and the girl frowned, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I'm not sure. Make sure to pay attention, I have a feeling you'll be next up," Miyako stated and Hisoka nodded in agreement as the two watched Tsuneo and Takeo talk for a minute before the match began.

**...**

It was two hours later that Miyako's turn finally arrived. As she had suspected, she – being the youngest – was the last to go up against Tsuneo. This gave her an advantage, having seen how her teammates fought the man gave her insight on his fighting styles. She stood in front of Tsuneo, a blank look on her face – one that she may or may not have spent hours in front of a mirror perfecting.

"Now, the girl," Tsuneo stated in a bored tone of voice.

"Don't underestimate me, Tsuneo-sensei," Miyako stated and the teacher smirked.

"I read your scores; you got the third-best of the graduating class. Impressive for someone four years younger than everyone else. You got the best scores for kunoichi and outdid your teammates," Tsuneo stated before he shot towards the girl.

Miyako had expected Tsuneo to move and stepped aside before throwing down a smoke bomb. Before the smoke cleared, she created a clone and jumped into a nearby bush where Tsuneo wouldn't be able to see her. When the smoke cleared, Tsuneo attacked the clone, only to go straight through it.

"A clone? So, you're hiding?" Tsuneo called out as he realised, he couldn't sense Miyako's chakra. _Is she really a Haruno? Her skills are beyond the other Haruno's I've worked within the past._

Miyako did not respond as she formed a hand-sign from her spot, setting off a circle of paper bombs, right where her clone had been, and where Tsuneo was still standing. Tsuneo barely had a chance to dodge the bombs, having not expected her to use them as her other teammates had stuck to throwing weapons and basic jutsus.

Miyako – whilst the bombs were going off – shot in the air, intercepting Tsuneo as he had jumped to avoid the bombs. She shot out with her kunai, surprising the teacher. Tsuneo blocked the attack with his own kunai and the two jumped apart before they landed.

Miyako didn't give Tsuneo a chance to plan his next move as she shot forward, pulling out some senbon. She threw them at Tsuneo, who easily dodged them and shot towards her. Miyako barely had time to block Tsuneo's punch with her arm, and even then, he shot out his leg, knocking her to the ground. Before she could get up, he had her pinned, a kunai to her throat.

"I believe I win," Tsuneo stated and Miyako nodded in agreement, puffing at the energy she had exerted whilst sparring with her teacher.

He got off her and helped her up before leading her towards her teammates, both of whom were grinning from ear to ear at the girl's skill. They brought her into a hug before they turned to face Tsuneo, who still had a blank look on his face.

"For fresh out of the Academy genin your skills are quite good. Though I should expect as much considering that you all graduated early," Tsuneo stated, "one of you graduated earlier than the others." His gaze flickered over to his female student. "So, what are your names?"

"Wait, does that mean we are staying on as your students?" Takeo questioned and Tsuneo nodded and Takeo grinned. "I'm Fuchigami Takeo."

Hisoka grinned. "I'm Uchiha Hisoka."

Miyako giggled at her teammates. "Haruno Miyako, sir."

"Nice to formally meet you three. Tomorrow, meet here at 8:30 in the morning we'll do some training. I won't be doing _any_ missions with you three until we've trained for at least a month. Understand?" Tsuneo questioned, expecting the genin to complain but they all grinned.

"Yes, Tsuneo-sensei!"

**...**

"I'm home," Miyako called out as she removed her shoes before stepping into the house itself.

"So, how did it go?" Kizashi questioned, coming out of the kitchen as his wife was on a mission in the Land of Wind and wouldn't be back for a week.

"It was fine. Takeo and Hisoka are both on my team," Miyako stated with a grin. "Our sensei is very serious, his name is Higa Tsuneo, have you heard of him, Kizashi-ji?"

"Hmm. I have heard of him. In fact, I've worked with him on a mission once, though I doubt he'd remember," Kizashi replied. "Anyway, do you mind picking Sakura up from kindergarten?"

"Sure thing, she'll be excited to see me," Miyako stated as she put her shoes back on and made her way out of the house and towards Sakura's kindergarten.

As she walked, she couldn't help but think back on the day and wondered if Hiruzen had told Tsuneo that Miyako was Shinjitsu yet. Miyako stopped and looked up to a building where she saw the familiar form of Itachi watching the streets below.

"Itachi-kun?" Miyako called and the Uchiha looked down to the girl he had gotten close to over the years.

He smiled before jumping down from the roof. "I was actually looking for you. I heard you graduated, so I got you something."

"What? Why?" Miyako questioned in surprise as the young Uchiha smiled and pulled out a beautiful necklace.

Miyako gasped in awe as she studied the necklace. It was silver with leaf designs on the circle locket, inside the leaves there was a beautiful moonstone. Miyako took it off Itachi, gently, and flipped open the locket to see a picture of her and Itachi that they took during the Winer Festival last year.

"It also acts as a late birthday present," Itachi stated and gently took it off Miyako before putting it around her neck.

"it's beautiful Itachi-kun, thank you," Miyako whispered as she pulled him into a hug.

"I wish I could stay to chat a bit longer, but I need to go home," Itachi stated and Miyako nodded.

"I have to get Sakura," Miyako stated before she gave Itachi a kiss on the cheek. "I'll come over and visit soon, OK?"

Itachi frowned as he stepped away. "It's best if you stay away from the compound for a while. There are some problems within the clan, and I don't want you to get caught up in the mess."

Miyako sighed but nodded. "I understand. I won't come over."

Itachi smiled before leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. "See you around, Miyako."

With that, Itachi left, and Miyako sighed as she fiddled with the necklace. She shook her head clear before walking the rest of the way to Sakura's kindergarten. As she expected, Sakura was excited when she was Miyako and the two left for home, Sakura telling Miyako about the day she had.

"And then Ino-san his Shika-Shikamaru-san because he told her she was annoying," Sakura explained, staring in surprise as she noticed her cousins' necklace. "When did you get that, Mi-chan?"

"Hmm? Miyako questioned, having tuned Sakura out two blocks back. Miyako followed Sakura's gaze and then blushed. "Itachi-kun gave it to me for my birthday and graduation gift."

Sakura sighed in awe. "I wish my boyfriend will be like that."

Miyako froze and stared at her cousin in surprise. "Itachi-kun and I aren't dating."

Sakura frowned. "'Course you are. Why else would he get you a gift?"

"Because we're friends," Miyako stated simply and continued her walking.

Sakura went back to telling Miyako about her day, dropping the subject, as they arrived back home. The two entered and saw Kizashi waiting for them with a warm smile on his face.

"That took longer than I thought it would, Miyako-chan," Kizashi stated, his gaze falling onto the necklace. "Oh? A gift from a certain Uchiha Itachi I take it?"

Miyako blushed. "So what? We're just friends."

"Mi-chan is in denial!" Sakura announced cheerfully, making the older girl glare at her cousin playfully.

"OK you two, let's drop the topic and come have dinner. I made you both my famous sweet and sour pork," Kizashi stated and the two girls grinned as they ran into the kitchen and took their places at the table, Kizashi following them with a large smile.

**...**

As the Haruno's were having dinner, Tsuneo was walking to visit the Hokage for his report, and assessment of his team. He walked up to the door leading to the Hokage's office, knocking and entering when he was told to.

"Ah, Tsuneo-san, how was your day?" Hiruzen questioned as he leant back on his chair, a pipe in his mouth.

"Well, the genins you put me on to train show signs of being quite exceptional. The Uchiha is the one lacking, I'm surprised with his lack of skills considering his clan," Tsuneo stated simply. "But I see potential in them all and decided to accept them as my students."

Hiruzen smiled before letting out a puff of smoke from his pipe. "I'm glad, but that also means I have to bring you in on a heavily guarded secret. So guarded that only me and the people involved know the truth about it."

Tsuneo raised an eyebrow. "Is it about the girl? She seems too skilled to be from the Haruno family."

Hiruzen chuckled. "I had a feeling you'd notice. But yes, it is about Miyako-chan. You see, I had placed the Haruno's in charge of her upbringing and safety after she arrived at my office during that blizzard a few years back."

"Why would she need to be protected?"

"If word got out of who she truly is, some people, those inside the village included, will stop at nothing to get her."

"What makes her so special?"

"Her real name is Shinjitsu Miyako, Princess and Heir to the Shinjitsu Clan. Also, the only one left. As her teacher, it's your job to ensure her safety both inside and outside the village, as well as ensure that she becomes the best that she can be. Do you understand?" Hiruzen explained, surprising the man with the information.

Tsuneo smiled. "Well then, I have my work cut out for me, don't I?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

**The **following month Team 4 spent all their time training. Tsuneo had put an emphasis on taijutsu in the teams' training sessions, building up his students' speed, strength, agility, and stamina. Today, a month after becoming genins, the team would finally start doing missions. Though excited, the team also knew what were in for. D-Rank missions. The lowest of the low. Missions that included farming, babysitting, finding lost pets, and shopping for other people to name a few.

"OK everyone, as I know you three have probably guessed, we will be doing D-Rank missions for a while. Most of the other genin graduates this year have started doing the occasional C-Rank, but because I took the time to improve your skills, you're a bit behind," Tsuneo stated and the three genins nodding in both acceptance and understanding. "I took the liberty of picking up our mission prior to our meeting. Today we have to do some gardening in the medicinal greenhouses."

Takeo sighed. "Remind me again why they allow such unnecessary tasks to become missions?"

"Money, experience, that sort of thing," Miyako stated and Tsuneo nodded in agreement to her assessment.

"Now then, if we get this done early enough, we may be able to get another mission before the day is out, understand?" Tsuneo questioned and the genins nodded before following their sensei to the medicinal greenhouses, where herbs and plants used to make medicines for the local hospitals and doctor clinics were grown.

The three walked in and were greeted by an older lady. "You must be the genin team they sent me. I know this isn't what you had planned in becoming ninja but thank you for helping with this. Let me get you all set up." With that said, the lady showed them the location of the gear and tools they would need and which plants they were to work with. She then left them to their own devices as she went to work in another part of the greenhouse.

As they worked, they joked and talked about random stuff, finding that they enjoyed looking after the important plants. It was just after twelve-thirty when they were finished, and they reported to the Hokage who gave them the rest of the day off as there were no other missions available.

Tsuneo led the team back to their training field and stood in front of them with a frown. "I had hoped to do another mission, but alas that fell through. So today I decided we should learn your chakra natures," Tsuneo stated and held up three pieces of paper. "This is chakra paper, you put your chakra into it and it will tell you what chakra elemental nature you have out of lightning, wind, water, earth, and fire. As you can probably guess, in the Land of Fire, fire is the most common chakra nature type with the wind release being the rarest."

"Sensei, how will we know what chakra nature is what?" Hisoka questioned as he took a piece of paper from Tsuneo, followed by his two teammates.

"The paper reacts differently depending on the nature type of chakra. For wind it slashes in half, for lightning it crinkles, for fire it burns, for water it gets soaked, and for earth it crumbles. My natural nature type is fire release, though I have also trained in the lightning release as well. Just because your nature type is one type, doesn't mean you can't learn another, it's just easier to learn elemental jutsu based on your chakra type," Tsuneo explained before gesturing to Hisoka. "Why don't you go first?"

"OK, Tsuneo-sensei," the Uchiha stated before focusing his chakra into the piece of paper, watching in amazement as it burst into flames. "I shouldn't be surprised; my clan is known for having fire chakra type after all."

"Wait, so genetics play a part in your chakra nature?" Takeo questioned and Tsuneo nodded.

"That's right, it's almost guaranteed that if both your parents have lightning chakra type, you would have it too. Now then, why don't you show us your nature type, Takeo?"

Taking a deep breath as if he were about to go underwater, Takeo focused on the piece of paper, and, though he expected _something_ to happen, he still jumped and dropped the piece of paper when it went up into flames. "Well... I guess I have the fire too," Takeo stated as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly whilst Miyako giggled and Hisoka laughed.

"OK, now for Miyako-chan," Tsuneo stated, trying not to show the amused smile that was threatening to come across his face.

Miyako bit her lip nervously as she forced her chakra to her fingertips and into the paper. She half-expected the paper to burst into flames too but was disappointed when it slashed in half. Miyako sighed as she watched some of the paper floats towards the ground. "Wind."

"Oh! That's so cool, Miyako! You have a rare chakra nature!" Hisoka exclaimed in excitement.

"Yeah, but finding a teacher is going to be a pain," Miyako replied with a groan and Tsuneo chuckled.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that for a while. Before I even let you three _think_ about learning elemental jutsus, we must improve your chakra control," Tsuneo stated and the three watched as he walked up to a tree and pat the trunk. "There are two things I want you three to master before we learn new jutsu, and those two things are walking up a tree vertically and walking on water. Both of these things aren't easy, but they are the best ways to learn chakra control. They are also two of the most common things you will ever use in battle and on missions."

"I've seen shinobi do those things before," Takeo stated. "They use their chakra to stick to the object, correct?"

"Yeah! I had seen some of my older clan mates' practice, sometimes they slip and other times they completely fall," Hisoka added.

"Correct. If you use too much chakra, you will break the tree and be pushed off, too little and you'll slip. Walking on water is even harder, think of that as phase two of your chakra control training. For now, I want you three to get to the top of a tree. How about you each give it a go now?"

The three genin ran up to three different trees and then attempted to climb them using only their feet. Tsuneo leant back on his tree, watching in amusement as two of the three genin failed, though he felt pride when one of them made it to the top easily. "Have you done this before?" Tsuneo questioned Takeo, who was walking back down the tree to the ground.

"No, but in the Academy, the teachers said I had great chakra control," Takeo replied as he reached the ground with a grin. "Does that mean my training is finished?"

"No, we still need to get you practising on water, so you and I will go over to the lake. You two keep practising here," Tsuneo stated looking at his two other students, both of whom seemed to be struggling with the exercise. "Miyako put less chakra into your feet. Hisoka put a little bit more in. I'll be over there with Takeo," Tsuneo stated, gesturing to the lake and his two other students nodded before taking his advice and going back to practice. "Come on, Takeo."

**...**

Miyako panted as she leant back on the upper-most, sturdiest branch. She had finally made it to the top of the tree, it took two weeks of training in-between missions, but she did it. She looked down and saw Hisoka sleeping on the ground. He had finished that training three days ago but opted to stay with Miyako whenever she decided to train to encourage her to continue.

Miyako smiled as she watched him, her gaze moving from his sleeping form to the setting sun. She knew that from tomorrow she would join Hisoka on walking on water, whilst Takeo was taught by Tsuneo to the Teleportation Jutsu – which he had started to learn a week ago as it took him a week to learn how to properly walk on water.

"You finally made it," a voice stated and Miyako jumped in surprise, her gaze falling down to the branch under her where Itachi sat with a smile. "It took you longer than I thought it would," he added.

"We can't all be prodigies, Itachi-kun," Miyako teased as she moved onto the lower branch, sitting across from him with her legs dangling over the side of the branch.

"Even Hisoka got it quicker than you," Itachi stated with a chuckle, and Miyako pouted.

"Oh, come off it. Besides, I'll master walking on water in only a week!" Miyako explained with a grin, making the Uchiha laugh, and waking Hisoka up.

"What's going on up there?" Hisoka questioned as he rubbed his eyes, looking up into the tree.

"Miyako thinks she can master walking on water in a week," Itachi stated, Hisoka waking up properly at the sound of the Uchiha heir.

"Itachi-san, when did you get here?" Hisoka questioned in surprise as he made his way up to the branch underneath the two.

"A few minutes ago, I watched as Miyako finally made it to the top," Itachi explained and Hisoka's eyes widened as he looked to his friend in excitement.

"Did you really make it?" Hisoka questioned, not believing Itachi's words.

Miyako huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Of course, I made it! And I will master walking on water before you, so watch out!" Miyako exclaimed in determination.

"Yeah right. You're the worst at chakra control out of all of you," another voice stated, appearing on the same branch as Hisoka.

"Oh, come on, Tsuneo-sensei! Have _some_ faith!" Miyako pouted out, making the brown-haired man smirk.

"You are good at strategies, but you have a long way to go before you have proper control over your chakra. Even Hisoka is doing better than you, and I thought he had the least amount of potential," Tsuneo stated.

"What?" Hisoka exclaimed. "Please tell me you're joking!"

"Unfortunately, I'm not. I was disappointed in your test for your lack of skills, for an Uchiha, that is. However, at this rate I think I may have been too quick to judge and had been wrong about your potential at the time," Tsuneo stated before looking up at his favourite student – though he wouldn't tell her that in fear of her gaining a big head -, and the Uchiha heir. "Itachi-san, it has been a while. I heard you made jōnin a while back. Congratulations for that."

"Thank you, Tsuneo-san. Anyway, I best leave you to your students. I'll see you later Miyako, Hisoka," Itachi stated before vanishing from view.

"Well, now that's gone, congratulations for making it to the top Miyako. If you want, I can teach you the principals of walking on water now," Tsuneo offered, and the girl grinned.

"Of course! Will you stay, Hi-kun?" Miyako questioned.

"No, I can't. I promised Mum that I'd get her some stuff for dinner. I should get going. Good luck, Mi-chan," Hisoka stated before walking down the tree and heading back to the main part of the village.

**...**

Miyako glared from her spot on the shore of the lake in her teams' training ground. It has been two weeks and she has yet to master walking on water. While she can walk on still water and very small waves, any more than that and she falls right in.

One day ago, Hisoka had mastered the skill and was now learning the Teleportation Jutsu, which Takeo had mastered a week ago. Takeo was trying to learn his elemental jutsu – the Fireball Jutsu – with Tsuneo. Meanwhile, Miyako was still stuck with trying to walk on water, and she wasn't all that happy with it.

"Can I give you a suggestion?" a voice stated from behind her, and Miyako spun around to see Itachi standing there with a small smile on his fair-skinned face.

"Don't you have a mission?" Miyako questioned, not wanting him there to see her failure.

"I finished it, Hokage-sama has given me the rest of the day off," Itachi stated as he walked up to the younger girl.

"OK, so what's your suggestion?" Miyako questioned with a tilt of her head, her wet hair falling over her shoulders, dripping water onto her bathing suit as she had learnt from the first time that it was best to practice walking on water in clothes designed to get wet.

"Don't think about it too much," Itachi stated simply, making her look at him in confusion. "You think too much, no matter what it is you're doing. Be it as simple as throwing a kunai or as complicated as walking on water. You want to be perfect, and you're more worried about the theory behind the skill than actually _doing_ the skill."

Miyako frowned. "But I can't just stop thinking."

"Yes, you can. Focus on something other than what you are doing. Your family, memories of childhood, who you're fighting etc." Itachi stated and Miyako frowned again before letting her mind clear and gathering chakra to her feet.

She needed to find something to think about other than the task at hand. Her mind flashed through memories before stopping at one that she treasured the most. It was the last training session with her parents and an hour before her clan's massacre. Out of all her memories, she treasured that one the most.

Miyako opened her narrow, blue eyes before stepping onto the water with a confidence that she shouldn't have. As she walked further to the centre, Itachi used a minor water jutsu to create a large wave, and as the wave reached her she stood on top of the water, not even flinching.

Cheers and claps filled the grounds as the other people in the area had watched the whole thing. Miyako grinned as she realised, she had done it as Itachi created another wave. He created more and more waves and she had no trouble standing on them. She didn't think, she just let instinct take control, and it was a great feeling she hadn't felt before. A feeling of almost complete freedom. With confidence in her ability, she ran to Itachi and tackled him into a hug.

"Itachi-kun, thank you!" Miyako squealed as she pulled back and gave him a kiss on the cheek, making the older Uchiha freeze in surprise.

When Miyako had realised what she had done, her cheeks turned red and she stepped back, looking away from the Uchiha, not having meant to kiss him. "Ah, sorry Itachi-kun, I just got a bit excited."

Itachi gave a small smile. "It's fine, I don't mind."

Miyako looked up at the Uchiha in surprise, her blue eyes meeting his dark gaze. They kept staring at each other, oblivious to the three other males in the area.

Tsuneo leant against a tree as he watched the two, a smirk on his lips. Takeo – on the other hand – was paying no attention to the two but to the younger Uchiha, who was glaring at Itachi with deep anger, maybe even hatred. It was because of Takeo's watchful eyes on his teammate that he was the first to notice the shift in the young Uchiha's eyes are they turned scarlet red with the Sharingan.

"Tsuneo-sensei!" Takeo shouted, drawing his sensei's attention, along with Miyako and Itachi's. All three gazes fell on Takeo in confusion, before following his gaze, all staring in shock as Hisoka – who had yet to notice the change – stared at them in confusion.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Hisoka questioned, he's anger towards Itachi forgotten for the moment.

"Hi-kun..." Miyako trailed off before a grin covered her face and she tackled her best friend into a hug. "Hi-kun, you have the Sharingan!"

"Huh!?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"**I **miss Hi-kun," Miyako stated with a sigh as she picked up some rubbish from the river with Takeo and Tsuneo by her side. She frowned as she looked at all the rubbish surrounding her, wondering how so much rubbish could accumulate in one area.

"Yeah, I do too. But it's to be expected, no one in his side of the family had activated the Sharingan for three generations. It's a shock to the clan, and he has to learn how to use it," Takeo stated and Miyako frowned.

It had almost been a month since the day Hisoka had activated his Sharingan, and in that time, his clan had been training him to wield it. The training was so intense that Miyako wasn't allowed to visit due to how tired Hisoka was every day after the training. Because of Hisoka's absence, Team 4 had been forced to not compete in the chūnin exams, which had started this week, and Team 4 had yet to go on a C-rank mission. As such, their days were divided between D-rank missions and training, which was going well for both Takeo – who had mastered the Fire Ball Jutsu and was now learning the Dragon Flame Jutsu – and Miyako, who had mastered the Teleportation Jutsu and was learning Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique (which is a genjutsu).

"I talked to Hisoka's parents, and they said that he should be joining us again next week," Tsuneo explained and Miyako grinned as she turned to face her teacher.

"Are you serious? Does that mean we can do C-rank missions?" Miyako questioned in excitement, making Tsuneo sigh.

"I think it would be best to spend a week or two doing D-rank missions as a team first, just to make sure our teamwork is in order. It'll also give me time to test out Hisoka's skills," Tsuneo explained and Miyako deflated, but nodded in understanding, before turning back to her current D-rank mission.

**...**

Later that week, Team 4 were in their training ground practising their respective jutsus, when Tsuneo – who had stepped out for a bit – arrived with a woman with black hair and grey eyes by his side. The team, consisting of Miyako and Takeo, stopped in their training and walked up to their teacher and the mysterious woman.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet my girlfriend Adachi Aya," Tsuneo stated, gesturing towards the woman. "Aya-chan, this is Fuchigami Takeo and Haruno Miyako. Miyako here is the one I was hoping you would train in wind style when you are both free."

Aya smiled at the two genins. "Hello, it's nice to meet you both."

"You have wind release?" Miyako questioned in excitement and the woman nodded in agreement.

"That's right. Tsuneo-kun here told me about your chakra nature and had asked me to come and teach you some of the jutsus I know when we both have the time," Aya explained and Miyako grinned.

"Oh, that's great! Do you think that you can teach me something once I've mastered my current jutsu? I don't want to start learning a new jutsu until then," Miyako explained and Aya laughed and nodded.

"Of course. I understand your reasoning, too many shinobi lack in power over a jutsu because they try to learn too many too quickly. I'm happy that my new student is serious is happy to take her time," Aya explained and Miyako grinned with pride at the praise from the kind kunoichi.

"I'm glad you two are getting along," Tsuneo stated with a grin. "I had actually brought Aya here to meet you especially Miyako because I know you don't like having a random person train you without meeting them first."

Miyako blushed. "Um... sensei, did you tell her about my... ah, _predicament?_" Miyako questioned her sensei.

"No, I figured you would tell her yourself if you saw fit. You haven't even told your teammates or even Itachi-san," Tsuneo explained and Aya's grey eyes widened in surprise at the name.

"You know Uchiha Itachi?" Aya questioned in excitement, having heard amazing things about the Uchiha prodigy.

"Know him? He and she are practically crushing on each other," Takeo stated with a smirk as his teammate started to blush. "You see that necklace? He gave it to her as a birthday _and_ a graduation present. A bit much for being just friends, am I right?"

"It no like that! We just friends, and that's all he'll ever see me as," Miyako stated, not even hiding the fact that she was crushing on the older Uchiha big time.

Aya started to laugh. "I don't know, Miyako-chan. It seems like he might like you more than that," Aya stated with a kind smile on her pink-painted lips.

"OK you two, leave the poor girl alone," Tsuneo chuckled. "Anyways, these two need to get back to training. I'll see you tonight for our date?"

"Of course, goodbye you two, it was nice meeting you," Aya agreed, giving Tsuneo a kiss on the cheek before leaving the training field.

"Wow, you're so lucky to have her, Tsuneo-sensei," Miyako stated in awe, making the man blush.

"OK, come on, show me how far you two have gotten."

**...**

Miyako bit her lower lip as she sat on the ground in the training ground, waiting for her teammates to arrive. It had been a week since she met her new sensei and girlfriend to her current sensei, Adachi Aya. In that time, Miyako worked hard to perfect Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique so she could begin training in wind style jutsus. Today, her and her team would be doing D-rank missions, as Hisoka should also return from his training with his clan.

Miyako was nervous, as she remembered the events leading up to her best friend gaining his Sharingan, and, if it weren't for Itachi, she wouldn't have realised that something akin to jealousy, anger, or even hatred had caused her friends Sharingan awakening.

"Miyako."

Miyako's head shot up in surprise as she looked up at the tall too familiar voice of her best friend. She studied her absent teammate and noticed how different he appeared. He seemed stronger, more serious, and almost... colder. Miyako smiled as she stood up, rushing up to the Uchiha and pulling him into a tight bear-hug.

"Hi-kun! I missed you _so_ much, how was training?" she questioned as the boy just st6ood there stiffly.

"It was fine," he replied in a cool, emotionless voice, making Miyako let go and step back with a frown.

"Hi-kun... is everything alright?" Miyako questioned hesitantly, shivering at the cold look in her best friends' gaze.

"Fine," he replied simply.

"If it's because of what happened when you awakened the Sharingan, I had meant nothing by it," Miyako stated and Hisoka snorted, showing the first sign of emotion since she arrived. "It _is_ because of that? Hi-kun, come on, you know I see Itachi as a friend and not even my _best_ friend. That spot belongs to you."

"You want something more with _him_," Hisoka spat out, glaring at nothing in particular.

"So, what if I do? It's probably just a crush, besides, I'm too young to worry about relationships. I just want my best friend back," Miyako explained and Hisoka sighed before turning to look at her.

He studied his best friend for a while, he often forgot how young each of them was. Of course, after his intense training with the Uchiha Elders and the Clan Head – among others – he found it hard to think of himself as being only eight and Miyako only being seven. He felt like he was much older, and he knew he needed to push aside the thoughts of being with Miyako. At least for now, as they had their whole life ahead of them. Hisoka gave Miyako a small smile.

"Sorry, Mi-chan. I shouldn't have acted the way I did. Will you forgive me?" Hisoka questioned and the girl grinned, tackling him to the ground in a hug.

"Of course, Hi-kun. We're best friends after all."

**...**

The following months were met with team bonding. In between missions (which now included C-rank missions and regularly leaving the village), and training with Tsuneo and her team, Miyako also trained with Aya. It has been just over a year since the team was formed, and each member of the team was formidable in their own right. With skills that cover all the basics (and also all the elements), the team had even been placed on a couple of B-rank missions.

You would think with all this skill under their belts that by the time the first chūnin exams of the year arrived that at least one of them would've been made chūnin. But that wasn't the case, as they all failed the first, written exam due to their lack of information gathering skills and knowledge.

This is what led to Tsuneo sitting awkwardly on the boulder in the training ground, rubbing the back of his head and blushing as he was being glared at by his student not even a day after the first test. "OK, I admit I sort of overlooked that part of your training."  
"You think? We could've beaten _any_ of those genins in battle, hell, we could've _survived _with no readily available food or water if that was the test. But no, we fail because we can't gather information without being caught! It wouldn't have even been a problem if you had at least taught us stuff outside of jutsus," Miyako snapped, angry at herself for failing as she _really _wanted to become a chūnin.

"Yeah, I admit my skills for gathering information are very... let's say non-existent. That's why I never taught you anything. I probably should've gotten someone else to teach you that stuff," Tsuneo admitted, still rubbing the back of his head.

"And you only just thought of this, now?" Hisoka questioned in disbelief and Tsuneo shrugged.

Takeo sighed. "OK, I say before we do the chūnin exams again, we get a teacher to teach us some information gathering techniques," Takeo stated, and his teammates nodded in agreement.

"In my defence, there was a fifty-fifty chance that you would need to do something like that in the exams," Tsuneo stated and froze as his students glared at him.

"Tsuneo is a fighter, he's not someone who gathers information, or even does something like assassinations, Aya-sensei is no better," Miyako stated with a hand to her chin.

"I actually take offence to that," Aya, who had been sitting next to her boyfriend the whole times, stated and was promptly ignored by her student, making her huff in annoyance.

"Do _you_ know anyone who could teach us?" Hisoka questioned the woman, and she put a finger to her lips as she thought.

"Hmm, what about Arihiro-kun?" Aya questioned and Tsuneo shook his head frantically.

"Nope, no way. He hits on you too much!" Tsuneo stated and Aya rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Tsuneo, he's your brother, _and_ is part of the jonin's who specialise in information gathering. If anyone could teach these three information gathering skills, it'd be him," Aya explained with a grin.

"Hold up, Tsuneo-sensei has a brother?" Takeo questioned in surprise.

"Yeah. He's my older brother, and a pervert," Tsuneo stated. "I don't talk about him much because of that."

"I don't care if he's a pervert, can he teach us what we need to know?" Miyako questioned and Tsuneo reluctantly nodded. "Great, you can go and get your brother and convince him to train us. We'll be here practising our newest jutsus."

**...**

Later that day, the three genins were resting after spending the morning training, it was then that they saw three figures in the distance. The trio could make out the forms of Aya and Tsuneo, so they suspected that the third form was Tsuneo's brother. They all stood up, studying the brown-haired, hazel-eyed man who was taller than their jōnin instructor. He gave them all a wide grin as he walked up to them and bowed with a flourish.

"I am Higa Arihiro, older brother to Tsuneo here, it's a pleasure to meet you," the man stated, standing up and grabbing Miyako's hand, giving her a kiss on the back of it.

Miyako just looked at him blankly as she pulled her hand back. "I'm only eight."

"Ah, doesn't mean I shouldn't treat you with respect," Arihiro stated and turned to face his brother and his brothers' girlfriend. "So, this is the team you caused to fail due to their lack of skills at information gathering."

"In my defence, there was a fifty-fifty chance that they would need to do anything of the sort," Tsuneo stated for the second time that day.

"That doesn't matter, what matter is our skills are lacking, and we want someone to teach us them. Aya-sensei told us you were the man for the job," Hisoka stated, looking at Arihiro with a frown. "Was she wrong?"

"Oh no, she was right. I'm among the best in the village when it comes to information gathering, both personal and un-personal," Arihiro stated with a smirk.

"By personal, he means seduction," Aya stated simply, making the three genins blush.

"Oh, come on Aya-chan, you'll make them uncomfortable with me," Arihiro whined.

"Like they're not already," Tsuneo muttered, making Arihiro glare at him.

"Isn't seduction usually a kunoichi's thing?" Takeo wondered out loud, making Arihiro smirk.

"Sometimes, women have the information we need... and other times, men swing for the same team, if you get what I mean," Arihiro stated and the genins eyes widened as they understood what Arihiro was implying. "However, I'm not here to teach you three the fine art of seduction, I'm here to teach you how to gather information _without_ getting close and personal with the enemy. As far as I know, there are no chūnin exams that call for getting close and personal to your enemies to get information."

"You wouldn't also be able to teach us some theory things so if we get a paper test again, we don't _have_ to spend the entire time gathering information, could you?" Hisoka questioned.

"Of course, I can. Now then, let's start with the basic principle of information gathering!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

**"Welcome** to the chūnin exams. I am Chatan Aika and this is the first test. As with other exams, up until the last test, everything is done in teams. If one of you fails, you _all_ fail, as it would be in a real mission. Now then, your task is simple. Each team will be given a description of a person they need to follow and gather information on. They need to do so _without_ getting caught, if you do get caught, you fail. You will follow this person around for one whole day, when the day is up, you will return here and report all the information you have gained," the Iwagakure kunoichi explained with a smirk on her red-painted lips.

"When you arrived and signed in, you should have gotten a number from one to thirty for your teams. I will call your teams' number and you are to come up and get the description of the person you are to follow from me. Once everyone has their target, I will give you five minutes of planning before beginning the test. Now then, team one, come up here," she ordered and a group of Kumogakure ninja walked up to her.

As they watched people get called up, Team 4 of Konohagakure sat in their chairs, sizing up their opponents. They hadn't spoken since they arrived in the testing room, but there was unspoken happiness in the group that they had forced Tsuneo to bring his brother Arihiro to teach them information gathering. The last year had been spent studying the art of information gathering, with some time for missions and other training in-between. Takeo, out of the group, was feeling the most fulfilled as he had started training to become a medic-nin and currently knows the basics of medical ninjutsu.

"OK, last but not least, Team Thirty," Aika called out, bringing Team 4 of Konohagakure out of their thoughts. The trio walked up to the jōnin of Iwagakure, confidence radiating off them, making the other genins in the room wary of their presence. "Konoha genin hmm? The only one for this round of exams. You have to find this woman and gather all the information you can about her. Like with all the other targets, she's a chūnin," Aika explained, holding up a photo of a fairly generic-looking woman with olive skin, black hair, and black eyes. "Remember, failure to gather enough information, to keep track of your target, or to remain hidden means instant disqualification, and a one-way ticket back to the Leaf."

"We understand," Miyako replied and the woman nodded before gesturing for the genins, now dubbed Team Thirty, to leave.

The trio headed to a corner to plan their approach on the mission. They had five minutes to get a basic plan going, and it was those five minutes that would mean passing or failing the test. The trio knew they had a disadvantage, as Aika said, they were the only team of Konoha-nin in the chūnin exams, most were from Iwagakure with some from Sunagakure, Amegakure, and Kumogakure. In other words, the trio stood out like a sore thumb amongst the other teams, made har5der by the fact that they were younger than the rest (Miyako being nine whilst her teammates were turning ten later in the year).

"OK, we can assume that the chūnin's are aware they are being used in the exams, meaning they will be more aware than otherwise. However, we can also assume that they don't know who is following them, besides them being genins. Meaning we have an advantage of hiding in plain sight," Miyako stated and her teammates nodded. "First thing first, we need to find our target and learn her basic mannerisms. Then we split up, switching over whose watching our target every couple of hours from afar, and who's going to be in plain sight. Our age also comes as an advantage, they said nothing about us hiding our forehead protectors, nor did they say anything about us pretending to be local academy students. In other words, we can talk to our target, but they can't know that we are genins following them."

Takeo and Hisoka agreed to Miyako's plan, just as Aika declared the start of the exam.

**...**

Twenty-four hours later, Team Thirty arrived at the testing room with the other genins. They noticed right off the bat that only twenty teams were left, cutting the total participants down from ninety to sixty. The odd was getting more and more into Team Thirty's favour.

When they were called up, they gave their report, and Aika's – the first proctor – eyes widened with how efficient the trio was in their skills. As [part of the exams, they had to explain how they prevented themselves from being spotted, and Aika was impressed with the strategy of pretending to be academy students, as she had seen the three talking to their target a couple of times in the last twenty-four hours. From the corner of her eyes, Aika could see the shocked look on the genins targets face as she realised how close her followers were the whole time.

"OK, ten teams have failed, leaving only twenty-teams. I will now hand you over to the proctor of the second exam, Chatan Jitsuko," Aika stated and stepped aside to reveal a woman who looked identical to herself.

"OK everyone, there was a reason why we had you gather information about your individual chūnins'. That is because you will be defending a civilian from them as you travel to a village three days from here, and then back. Your job is to protect your civilian from the chūnin we had you watch over the course of seven days. The rules are simple: you have three days to get to the village, failure to do so will equal in disqualification. You will remain in the village for one night, and then you have three days to get back to this village, failure to do so will also equal in a disqualification. During the attack, you must protect your civilian, as well as protect yourself. If your civilian gets captured, you lose. If one of you becomes incapacitated, you lose."

The genins in the room shuffled nervously, as there were many ways to lose in the next test, especially compared to the last test. Miyako suspected that half, if not more, of the teams, will fail this test. The tests were designed, after all, for the genins to fail. Jitsuko's gaze studied the genins, giving them time for the information to sink in.

"The test starts at dawn tomorrow at the front gates of the village. You have today and tonight to rest up and prepare. You are all dismissed."

**...**

The next day, the trio made their way to the front gates of the village. They wore nothing more than their ninja clothing and a belt on their waists, inside the belt pockets were scrolls sealed with food, weapons, clothing, and medical gear. They noticed that most of the other genins wore travelling backpacks. The trio looked around until the found a male merchant, elderly in appearance with a hunched back, holding a sign that said Team Thirty. The trio walked up to him and bowed in respect.

"We are a Team Thirty, from Konohagakure," Miyako greeted as she stood up, studying the olive-skinned man with grey hair and brown eyes.

"Bit young to be shinobi," the old man stated gruffly.

"We graduated two years ago, this is our second time taking the chūnin exams," Miyako explained and the man nodded, respecting the trio for graduating at such young ages. "I assume that you know of what is required during the test."

"Of course, I've been helping with the chūnin exams since I was a young lad. In fact, this exact test has been done so many times I lost count," the man explained. "I expect you to 'protect' me from the enemy."

"Of course, even if it is a test, we won't treat it any less than a mission," Hisoka stated and the man nodded as the genin teams and their civilians were brought to attention by Jitsuko.

"OK, don't forget the rules, and we begin... now!"

The genin teams moved off, many of which were carrying their civilian and running. Miyako sighed, shaking her head as her team walked out of the village casually as if going for a stroll. The old man looked at them in amusement, not even surprised that they took the almost lazy route of completing the test.

"Did you calculate how long it would take to walk with me already?" the old man questioned and Miyako giggled.

"Takeo did, he calculated how long it would take in general to get to the village without a civilian, and then estimated how long it would take in each age range, from eighteen to twenty-five, twenty-six to thirty-five, thirty-six to forty-five, forty-six to fifty-five, fifty-six upwards. Assuming that we only get attacked no more than twice in a day, we should arrive at the village at midday on the third day," Hisoka explained.

"Clever then. I am Ehara Fumito. Out of all the teams I've had so far, you three interest me the most," the old man explained.

"I am Fuchigami Takeo," the eldest boy greeted, already being ten years of age.

"I'm Haruno Miyako," the youngest teammate greeted.

"I'm Uchiha Hisoka," the final boy stated, making Fumito look at him in surprise.

"Never met an Uchiha before, you have the Sharingan?" Fumito questioned and Hisoka nodded with a blank face. "Interesting. So, are you the tactical expert in the team, Hisoka-san?"

"That would be Mi-chan," Hisoka stated, gesturing to the young girl who shot them a grin.

"Really? How old are you anyway, Miyako-chan?" Fumito questioned.

"I turned nine only a month ago. Takeo is ten, and Hisoka will be ten by the end of the year," Miyako explained with a grin. "We all graduated at the same time. I was in their class at the academy because of how advanced I was."

"Now that I think about, you never did explain about that," Takeo mused with a smile.

"True, you're not from a clan, so your skills make no sense. And it wasn't your aunt and uncle, after all, Sakura-chan is very weak," Hisoka added and Miyako pouted.

"Oi! Sakura-chan is only six, of course she's not strong. Besides, I want her to strengthen up in her own time," Miyako stated but paused in her step as a stray thought crossed her mind.

_There they are. I can't believe I didn't realise they were foreigners. They're good. I'll send some clones to test their skills to find out what their skills consist of._

"Guys, incoming," Miyako stated simply and shot forward with a kunai as a clone appeared. She stabbed it through the chest, the clone turning to mud as the two boys surrounded the civilian, who stared at the girl in surprise. "Our follower is trying to gauge our skills, keep to taijutsu and throwing weapons, no use of ninjutsu or genjutsu!" Miyako ordered as more clones appeared and the trio started fighting them off, remaining close to Fumito who watched in amazement at the trio's skills, even without using jutsus.

_Damn it, they won't show me their other skills. I'll pull back, for now, maybe attack when they set up camp later._ The voice though as the last of her clones vanished at the hands of Takeo.

Miyako looked at her teammates with a smile. "We should be fine for now. Keep an eye out, just in case."

**(I'd like to thank everyone for the reviews and favourites and follows so far. And I hope you all keep continuing on in enjoying this fanfiction as much a possible. Any suggestions are welcomed, as I'm always updating and improving on the story regularly and would love ideas for new chapters or to extend older chapters.**

**I have also added a new story which is Fallen - The Academy Years which is short stories about Miyako and her friends (and Itachi) between Part I: Chapter Three and Part I: Chapter Four. So if you want more check it out. **

**Thanks, AJHLing xx)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**Miyako **groaned as Takeo used a healing jutsu on her wound. It had been twenty-four hours since the second part of the exam had started, and their examiner had attacked in-person early that day. Miyako, who had just woken everyone up from resting the night, had been hurt during the attack. The damage was minor – just minor cuts and scrapes from an earth style jutsu – but it had slowed the group down. Despite the fact that the two fights had put a dent in their travels, Team Thirty was still on schedule thanks to Takeo's mathematical skills.

"Makes you wish you had the first shift, eh Miyako?" Takeo teased as he headed up the last scratch, the girl shooting him an icy-blue glare.

"I thought it'd be best if you had the most fulfilled amount of sleep, being our medic and all," Miyako stated, and Hisoka and Fumito nodded in agreement to her statement. "And it turns out I was right."

"Did it occur to you that I might not have been needed if you go more fulfilled sleep?" Takeo questioned as he stood up, helping the girl up.

"Perhaps, but we survived and we're not behind schedule, we have till the end of tomorrow to get to the village, and we're just under half-way there. Besides, our examiner has no plans to attack us anytime soon. She plans on using the last fights information to beat us," Miyako explained, and Fumito looked at her in confusion.

"Miyako-chan, how do you know this?" he questioned.

Hisoka cleared his voice, grabbing the elderly man's attention. "It's best not to think about it. The knowledge will eventually come out, but for now, its best kept as a secret from even most of our own village."

Fumito nodded, not understanding completely, but understanding enough that he knows they won't tell him. For good reason too. After all, being a Shinjitsu gave Miyako a kekkei genkai, and the second stage of the kekkei genkai allows her to hear the thoughts of others – but only if she's actively searching for them. She had that skill since she was found by the ANBU that one winters day – that was how she understood what the Hokage was thinking, and part of the reason she knew he was telling the truth (the other was the first stage of the kekkei genkai which gave her a feeling if someone was being truthful or lying to her).

"Come on, we best get moving. I want us to be almost to the village by the time we make camp," Miyako ordered, and everyone nodded, grabbing any weapons they had used in the fight with their examiner before setting off, the old man looking at Miyako with something akin to recognition in his old, brown eyes.

**...**

No one approached as the four made their way into the village, they had to look around for some check-in before settling in. they soon found it in the form of a temporary booth where Jitsuko – the proctor for the exam – along with her twin sister Aika sat, looking board out of their minds. When they saw the group, they seemed surprised and waved the group over.

"Hmm, you made it I see. Barely a scratch on you three too. Your examiner told me your skills; I'm impressed. Already five teams have failed, six teams have already arrived, well, we can make that seven teams now. Go into the town's inn, they have rooms for your team and your civilian. Stock up, because tomorrow you best head off. The second part isn't going to be as easy," Jitsuko explained as she marked Team Thirty off as making it to the check-point.

The team nodded and walked into the village, easily finding the inn and signing in. despite being in the 'safe-spot', the team still wanted to keep an eye on Fumito. It was decided that Hisoka will watch him, and share a room with him, whilst the other two went out to get supplies and shared a room together.

"It would be nice to have proper food tonight," Takeo stated as Miyako looked through the vegetables in the only grocers in the town.

"Yes. I'm thinking just sweet and spicy curry with rice. What do you think, Takeo?" Miyako questioned as she grabbed a couple of apples and a pineapple from the shelf.

"Hmm, I love your cooking. You could cook horse shit and still make it the best thing I've ever tasted," Takeo stated as he grabbed a small bag of rice. "Do you need any herbs or spices?"

"No, I carry those with me. I do, however, need some minced pork, celery, and Pak Choy. I'm going to grab some shiitake mushrooms, seeing as Hi-kun loves them so much," Miyako stated and Takeo ran off to get what she listed.

Haruno Mebuki – Miyako's adoptive aunt – had taught her how to cook when the girl graduated from the academy. Mebuki believed that if her niece was old enough to go on missions and hold weapons, she was old enough to cook. At first, Miyako cared little for the idea, but she quickly grew to love cooking. If you asked Miyako what her hobbies were, cooking would be the first thing to come out of her mouth, followed by learning new things and training.

"Found them!" Takeo announced as he put the items into the basket Miyako was holding, just as she found some whole shiitake mushrooms. "Is that everything?"

Miyako nodded and walked up to the cashier, who scanned the items. Miyako paid, surprised at how expensive some of the items were compared to other places, before leaving the store.

"I'm going to go and stock up on my shuriken and kunai, you need anything?" Takeo questioned Miyako as he noticed a weapons store.

"No, I'm good. I'll be in our room, preparing dinner. When you're done, do you mind getting Hi-kun and Fumito-san for dinner?" Miyako questioned and the boy nodded before heading off.

Miyako smiled as she made her way back to the inn and up to her room. She walked in and went about cutting everything up, preparing the curry with a small smile on her face. This dish wasn't actually something Mebuki had taught her, it was in-fact Miyako's grandfather on her mother's side. She had remembered the dish well enough to explain it to Mebuki so Mebuki could teach her when she was older. It was among Miyako's favourite dishes – even if it did have shiitake mushrooms in it.

**...**

The next day – tummies full, and well-rested – the trio of shinobi and a single civilian signed out of the village just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. The group of four walked leisurely, as many of their other genins test-takers shot passed. The objective of the test wasn't to finish the quickest but to protect the civilian and themselves from danger. Like usual, Takeo was next to Fumito's right side, with Miyako at the back, and Hisoka at the front. There was no talking as everyone, even the ninja, were still a bit drowsy from their good night's rest. Of course, their tiredness quickly faded as a group of shuriken where aimed towards Fumito.

Hisoka, who had heard the sound, activated his one tomoe Sharingan and deflected the attack as Takeo pushed Fumito to a boulder where Takeo stepped in front of the elderly man, prepared to defend from the front or side as the back was protected. Miyako – who was surprised she hadn't sensed the thoughts of their attacker – grabbed a kunai, standing next to Hisoka as their examiner stepped out from behind a tree, a smirk on her face.

"I figured it out, you – girl – can read minds, that's why you sensed my previous attacks. Though it appears that there is a limit to them," the woman stated, holding a sai in her hand. "Now then, are you three ready to fail?"

Miyako twitched, and Hisoka shot forward, weaving hand signs at a rapid pace. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

The flame shot towards the woman, who leapt over the flame, only to stare in shock as she came face to face with Miyako who had just finished weaving her signs. "Paralysis Jutsu!"

The woman gasped in surprise as she felt her body being restrained with invisible ropes. She started to plummet towards the earth, and Hisoka shot after her, kicking her into a tree, leaving a dent as the woman slid down the trunk. Hisoka and Miyako jumped back next to each other and watched as the woman stumbled to her feet, the jutsu fading away. The woman glared at the duo, blood dripping from her lip. She sneered as she quickly weaved some hand signs.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!" she shouted out as a wall of mud hid her from view. Miyako and Hisoka shot into action, destroying the wall with a well-placed lightning jutsu, only to find the woman was gone.

The duo looked around, even going as far as jumping into a tree in the event that she was underground, but they saw no sign of her. Nor did they sense her. That was until she shot up in front of Takeo. Takeo, who had suspected the move charged towards the woman, chakra around his hand that looked as if he was going to karate chop her, only the attack seemed to do no damage as the woman jumped back after Takeo's hit landed on her chest.

"So, you're the weak link," the woman sneered with a smirk, only to freeze as she started to rapidly cough. "What?"

"Chakra Scalpel, it does damage to the cells itself. If you hurry, you may find a medic before you heart stops beating," Takeo stated with a blank look on his face.

The woman's eyes widened in fear, before glaring at the trio and shooting off back to the town, dying for this exam was _not _on her agenda.

**...**

"Congratulations onthe eight teams that had passed the second exam. We still have twenty-four participants, and the last round will be held tomorrow. Gaku will take over," Jitsuko announced, gesturing to a heavily scarred, but small man who had a smirk on his face as he stepped up so that all the examinees could see him in the classroom they were seated in.

"Tomorrow will be the final part of the exam. From this point on, it's every man for themselves. The exam will be watched by nobility, and your kage and this exam is a battle royal. All twenty-four of you will be placed into an arena, your job is to be the last man standing. You can, of course, do the test in your teams, but remember, that only _one _will win. There are no rules, you can kill and seriously injure one another if you need to," Gaku explained. "How you choose to do the exam is your choice, but remember, you just need to last long enough to show your skills to your kage. Now then, before we continue, does anyone want to pull out?"

Miyako looked around the room, surprised when seven genins held the hands up. They were all badly injured, a couple even having broken bones, and they knew they wouldn't stand a chance. That brought down her competition to sixteen, and she liked those odds better. As the proctor took the names of the people who pulled out, Miyako noticed movement from her left and saw Takeo walking up to the man, pulling out. He walked back to his teammates, who looked at him in shock.

"Why?" Miyako questioned simply.

"I don't want to become a chūnin until I become a full medic. I only took the exams so you two could. I'll be watching in the crowd, kick their arses," Takeo encouraged and Hisoka and Miyako grinned, high-fiving each other as the same thought crossed their minds: _only fifteen people, not including myself, left._

**...**

Miyako and Hisoka stood next to each other in the line of genin in the middle of a large arena that had been built just for this exam. The seats were full of spectators, and the noise was deafening. In a box sat the Third Tsuchikage, along with the Third Hokage, and the Fourth Kazekage. The Raikage and Mizukage were unable to attend, so their right-hand-men took their place. Surrounding the kage booth were nobles from all the lands, including a couple of feudal lords. The rest of the seats in the oval-shaped arena were full of civilians and shinobi who have all came to watch the fight that was about to happen. The proctor of the exam stood on a ledge over the entrance to the ground of the arena, a microphone in his hand.

"Welcome to the third part of the chūnin exams! In front of you are sixteen genins who hope to impress you with their skills to become chūnin of their respective villages. This is a battle royal, every man for himself. The genins goal, last long enough to show their skills _and_ to impress you all. Each genin will start in a designated zone," Gaku explained, and on cue, the genin moved to their spots, teammates were located on opposite sides of the arena. "When the gong goes, the battle royal begins!"

The crowd, which had fallen silent at Gaku's announcements cheered and the proctor gestured to the women behind him, who banged the gong and the genins started the battle. In a flurry, genins started summoning jutsus, attacking one another, and setting up defences. Miyako hid in a tree, watching as two genins – one for the Land of Grass and the other from Amegakure – fought it out right in front of her. Hisoka was also hiding, his Sharingan activated, as he watched the movement of three Kumo genins against a Suna genin. Cheers and shouts could be heard from the crowd, and if you paid close enough attention, you can also hear the sounds of bets being placed.

It was absolute chaos in the arena, the spectators had trouble telling what was going on, and Miyako wondered if this was a good idea on the Tsuchikage's behalf. She thought that, perhaps, it would've been better for individual spars instead of a full-blown battle royal. Miyako watched as one by one the genins started to lose to their opponents, a smirk covering her lips as she realised her decision to hide and wait was the best thing she could've done.

Hisoka – who was on the other side of the arena – was having similar thoughts, and he knew that soon only Miyako and himself would be left. This actually worried the Uchiha, as he wasn't sure he could even stand a chance at beating the young girl. Despite being younger than him – and weaker than him in terms of brute strength – Miyako was a formidable opponent. Her kekkei genkai was part of the reason for this. She has leant to use it in battle, knowing what a person will do before they themselves truly know. It was no wonder that even the feared Uchiha Clan were weary of the Shinjitsu Clan.

**...**

Almost an hour later, Miyako and Hisoka stood facing each other in the now destroyed arena. They were the last two genins, and the arena was now filled to the brim with anticipation as they had witnessed Hisoka taking out two other genins, and Miyako had just revealed herself for the first time. The two made no move, making the crowd restless.

"Are you scared, Hi-kun?" Miyako mocked making the Uchiha smirk as he threw eight kunai towards the girl.

She dodged and the fight properly began. Hisoka making plans and changing them so quickly that Miyako had trouble keeping track of his thoughts. In the end, she pulled out of his head and used her instincts to battle her teammate. Justus went off, weapons went everywhere, and more of the arena got destroyed as the two genins moved so fast that the civilians and the chūnins in the crowds had trouble seeing what was happening. The kage present were nervous at the skill the two Konohagakure genin showed, as were the kage stand-ins who took note of the two genins. Soon, after a wind jutsu by Miyako covered the field with dust, the dust cleared showing Hisoka – Sharingan blazing – with a kunai to Miyako's throat as she laid under him, breathing hard.

"The winner is–" Gaku gasped as, from behind Hisoka, Miyako appeared seemingly out of nowhere, kicking the Uchiha down before using the paralysis jutsu on him and holding her kunai to his throat.

Hisoka's eyes were wide, having thought he had won. His gaze fell to the Miyako on the ground, only for it vanish – showing that it was nothing more than a simple clone.

Gaku cleared his throat. "The winner is Haruno Miyako of Konohagakure!"

Cheers filled the arena as Miyako released her jutsu and helped Hisoka up. He grinned and pulled her into a hug, whispering into her ear, "Good job, Mi-chan."

"For those of you who didn't win, keep in mind that your kage may still make you chūnins, you will not find out until after you return to your village. This is the end of the Chūnin Exams!" Gaku announced, riling up the crowd more.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

**Miyako **looked down at the chūnin vest she held in her hand with pride as she made her way out of the Hokage building. She was grinning from ear to ear, Hisoka was next to her, also grinning. Both had been made chūnins. It took a week before they found out the Hokage's decision and the results of the Chūnin Exams, but they didn't care about the wait as they were now so happy that they decided to go to dinner together at a local soba restaurant. They had invited their senseis, families, and Takeo – but all had declined the two, saying that the two should go out together to celebrate.

They made their way into the restaurant and got a seat at a booth before placing their food and drink orders. Whilst they waited, they began to converse, talking about the chūnin exams and what they thought they could've done better, as well as what they thought they may have overdone a little bit.

"So, what now for your training?" Miyako questioned as the food was placed in front of them. "_Itadakimasu!"_

"_Itadakimasu_!" Hisoka announced before answering Miyako's question. "More training on my Sharingan, I want to have all three tomoes and mastered before I become a jōnin. Other than that? I'm not too sure. what about you?"

"Hmm?" Miyako shrugged as she slurped up some of the buckwheat noodles. "Find out as much as I can about the Shinjitsu no kokei, improve on its skills."

"Hn, how far along are you in that?"

"I have Stage Two activated; I want to have Stage Three activated before I become a jōnin. Though, I think that will be a few years away. I want to focus on my training. What about you? Do you want to become jōnin as soon as possible?" Miyako questioned and Hisoka grinned as he swallowed his food.  
"Of course, the second my Sharingan is mastered, I'm becoming a jōnin. Who knows, by then Takeo may finally be a chūnin," Hisoka joked, his gaze falling out of the store as he brought the last bit of noodles up to his lips to see a familiar soon to be seven-year-old rushing past. "Hey, Sasuke-kun!"

The boy stopped at having heard his name. he saw his cousin and his older brothers' friend and ran over to them, a grin on his face. "Hisoka-san! Miyako-chan! Are you two on a date?"

"W-what?" Miyako chocked out, blushing as she coughed on her food. "Of course not, Sasuke. We're celebrating our rise to chūnin rank," Miyako explained, gesturing to the vest that was sitting next to her in the booth.

"Wow! You're as amazing as Itachi-nii!" Sasuke gasped out in excitement, onyx eyes widened.

"Are you on your way home, Sasuke-kun?" Hisoka questioned as he paid for his half of the food and drinks.

"Yep," Sasuke announced and Hisoka gave Miyako a smile as he stood up and grabbed his new chūnin vest.

"I'll walk with you, then. See you tomorrow, Mi-chan?" Hisoka questioned and Miyako grinned as she paid for her half of the meal.

"Of course, see you later Hi-kun. Sasuke-kun."

**...**

Miyako felt sick. She felt wrong. She felt as if something wasn't quite right. She tossed and turned in her bed before giving up and getting up. She put some shorts on as she was already wearing a singlet top and made her ways downstairs. She slipped on her ninja sandals before leaving the house, locking the door with her keys and heading towards the training grounds.

When she reached the training grounds she got into some light training, practising her weapon throwing and taijutsu. It was two hours after she began training that she decided to rest, body sweating as the cool breeze brushed against her bare arms and legs.

"Miyako-chan."

Miyako jumped, standing up and turning to face the voice to see Itachi standing there in full ANBU gear – minus his mask – and covered in blood. Miyako gave him a smile. "Did you just finish a mission, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi sighed before walking towards Miyako, pulling her into a hug. Miyako stiffened as she felt tears fall on her shoulders and froze when she heard a stray thought cross Itachi's mind. _"I killed all of them. Only Sasuke is left."_

"Itachi... you didn't, did you?" Miyako gasped out nervously, making Itachi let out a sob.

"I suspected you were a Shinjitsu," Itachi replied and Miyako started to shake as she tried to push out of his arms, but he pulled her closer to him. "Please, Miyako-chan, just know I did it for a reason. Look after Sasuke, he'll need someone to watch out for him," Itachi begged.

"Hisoka!" Miyako gasped out as realization hit her as the stray thought she had heard crossed the teens mind again. "No! Let go of me! Bastard! Let go of me!" she shouted, struggling to get out of his embrace.

Itachi let the girl go, she hastily stepped back, eyes filled with tears, anger, confusion, and worst of all, hatred, as she looked at the boy in front of her. Itachi winced at the eyes, his heart clenching at the look she was giving him.

"Miyako-chan, please," he whispered but she cut him off.  
"No! Just leave you, murderer! Don't come near me or Sasuke again!" Miyako screamed before turning around and rushing away, leaving Itachi behind as tears dripped down his porcelain-coloured cheeks.

**(I know it's a very short chapter, but I felt like length wasn't needed for the potency of the events that happen in this chapter. If you think I could improve this chapter in some way (maybe by making the chapter longer in some way) _please_ let me know as I'm always happy to update and improve my writing. Thank you for reading, favouriting, reviewing, and following this story. It means so much to me to hear your feedback and knowing that there are people out there enjoying my story. Thank you ^_^)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Part II**

"Lately I've been,

I've been praying hard,

Said no more counting dollars,

We'll be,

We'll be counting stars,"

Counting Stars by One Republic

**Chapter Ten**

**Konohagakure** was never the same after the day of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Of course, the pain and absence the village felt was nothing compared to the pain and absence that two individuals felt. One was Uchiha Sasuke, the survivor of the massacre who turned cold and whose hatred for his elder brother started to rule him. The other was Haruno Miyako, who lost not only a teammate and best friends, but two people who – she had to admit five years later – she had a slight crush on.

Of course, the sense of betrayal Miyako felt had pushed her into becoming stronger. She wanted to know _why_ Itachi did what he did, and she wants to protect Sasuke from the darkness slowly growing within him. Because of this, a year after the massacre – and after Sasuke was declared fit (both mentally and physically) – she demanded that she become Sasuke's guardian and that the two moves into a two-bedroom apartment together. At first, the Hokage was against her request. But the more she pushed, the more he realised he couldn't deny her and so – with the permission of the Haruno's – Miyako became Sasuke's legal guardian and the two moved in together.

Currently, Miyako was preparing breakfast for her and Sasuke, consisting of green tea, natto, a banana, white rice, and slightly cooked eggs. She was humming to herself, whilst Sasuke was just starting to wake up. For the young Uchiha, today was important as it was the day that the exams to become a genin began. Miyako remembers her exams, which – over the course of three days – consisted of a written test for spelling, reading, and grammar, a substitution test, a written test for mathematics and strategies, a written test for history and political knowledge, a test on basic taijutsu and weapon throwing, a transformation test, and – finally – the clone test. Overall, there were seven tests, and one had to pass at least two to become a genin.

"Morning, Sasuke," Miyako greeted as the Uchiha walked into the kitchen-diner of their apartment, his hair sticking up every which way and sleep still in his eyes.

"Hn," Sasuke replied groggily as he sat down at the table as Miyako placed his food in front of him before grabbing her food and sitting across from him.

"Are you ready for your exams?" Miyako questioned Sasuke as she mixed the natto, rice, and eggs together with her chopsticks.

"Hn," Sasuke replied as he brought his food to his mouth.

"I'm glad you're so confident, I was so nervous during my test, I almost vomited right there in the exam room," Miyako explained, shuddering as she remembered that day back when she was seven. "Anyway, I'm going on a mission today, so I might not be back until next week. I spent all of yesterday and last night preparing your Bentos. You'll have to make breakfast yourself."

"Won't this be your first mission as a Jōnin?" Sasuke questioned, knowing that a 'hn' wouldn't convey his question properly – even if Miyako was a master in 'hn' speech.

"That's right. I'll be going with Takeo, Gina, and Tsuneo-sensei. The Hokage gave me the mission last night. We need to take some highly expensive, and rare, medicines to Takumi Village in the Land of Rivers. I should be back by next week, assuming everything goes well," Miyako explained before smiling ruefully. "It'll be nice to work with Gina; we sort of drifted apart after I graduated. We're still friends but..."

Sasuke's dark eyes looked at Miyako who looked sad. He never knew what to say or do when she fell into these moments of sadness, so he finished his banana and tea before getting up to have a shower and get ready, leaving Miyako to gaze out the window of the kitchen.

**...**

"Miyako!" a female voice called as Miyako walked towards the gates of the village three hours later.

Miyako grinned when she saw the silver-haired, grey-eyed beauty that was Ejiri Gina. She ran up to the chūnin, pulling her into a hug, ignoring the grins of both Tsuneo and Takeo. "God, I missed you, Gina. I'm so excited to go on a mission with you."

"Me too. And I can't believe you're a Jōnin already. Honestly, I feel so weak compared to you," Gina stated with a grin.

"How do you two know each other?" Tsuneo questioned in confusion.

"Gina was my first friend at the academy, we were like sisters up until I graduated. In fact, Takeo, Gina, Hi-Hisoka, and I were close growing up," Miyako explained, stuttering over Hisoka's name.

"Yep, and then the three smart-arses decided to go and graduate before me, so the only time we could hang out was on the off days – which was almost never," Gina explained and Tsuneo blushed as he realised that his training that had stopped the trio from visiting their friend regularly. "But that's all in the past, and right now is the present. And you know what that means?"

"We have a mission to complete?" Takeo offered and Gina grinned.

"We have a mission to complete."

**...**

Miyako grinned as she stepped into her apartment a little over a week later. The mission was a success, the team only being attacked once by a group of low-level rouges. The medicine was delivered, the group returned home and were paid for their time.

She had missed her small apartment and had missed Sasuke. She wanted to be there for his graduation, but she had missed it, and she hoped Sasuke brought the report card home with him so she could see how well he done. She also wanted to know about his team, who she knew he would meet today for the first time.

It was already late afternoon, so Miyako decided to begin preparing dinner. Tonight, she decided on Sasuke's favourite - tomatoes with steamed rice. She added a little bit of pork to the dish, mostly because she knew that a growing boy needed his protein. She had just finished preparing the meal when Sasuke returned.

"I'm home," he called out.

"Welcome back, Sasuke," Miyako greeted as he walked into the kitchen, a blank look on his face. "Did you bring your report card? What about your team? Who's your sensei?" She questioned as Sasuke placed a folder on the bench as Miyako put the food on the stove to cook.

She turned around and grab the report card. Reading everything, and grinning as she realised Sasuke got the highest marks in the class overall. He was the student of the year. The one all sensei's want on his team. The one to look out for.

"Amazing, your scores are the same as mine," Miyako grinned as she turned back to the pan and threw the pork in with the tomatoes. "So, have you met your teammates and sensei yet?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied.

"That bad huh? Who are they?" Miyako questioned as she grabbed the freshly steamed rice and placed a couple of spoonful's in each bowl.

"Your cousin, Sakura, and the dobe Uzumaki Naruto," Sasuke replied.

"Sakura and Naruto aren't that bad," Miyako stated, defending her younger cousin.

"She's a fangirl and he's a class clown, and our sensei is no better," Sasuke stated as Miyako put the pork and tomatoes on top of the rice and placed the bowls on the table.

"And who's your sensei?" Miyako questioned as Sasuke took his seat and she placed two cups of green tea on the table, taking her seat across from him.

"Itadakimasu," Sasuke and Miyako stated before Sasuke answered her question. "Some Jōnin by the name Hatake Kakashi."

Miyako dropped her chopsticks in surprise. "_The_ Hatake Kakashi?"

"You know him?" Sasuke questioned in surprise.

"Of course, he's a legend. He's one of the best fighters our village has at the moment. In fact, he's perfect to train you. The only thing wrong with him is he's _always_ late... that and he has a habit of failing he's genin teams," Miyako explained with a wide grin.

"We have to do a test tomorrow, he wants us at the training grounds at dawn with no breakfast," Sasuke stated and Miyako gave a sly grin.

"Then you should probably listen to him. I'll prepare a bento for your lunch. You should get a good amount of rest, Kakashi-san is ruthless."

**...**

The next day, Miyako made her way to the Hokage building. She didn't know why she was called in so soon after her latest mission, but she figured it must've been important as she made her way up the steps to the door that led to the Hokage's office. She knocked on the door and waited before being let in. She stepped in, noticing the Hokage sitting at his desk doing paperwork. When he saw her, he gave her a small smile before gesturing for her to close the door and she made her way up to the desk in front of him.

"Good, I have a mission for you. It's not particularly difficult, and you should be able to have it done by the end of today," the Hokage explained as he stopped writing, placing his pen down to give her his undivided attention.

"The mission, sir?" Miyako questioned, expecting a scroll.

"You are to go to an onsen in Atsuiyama. There you are to meet the sage Jiraiya who will have a scroll for me. The scroll holds important information, and it can't fall into the wrong hands. This is an A-rank mission. If someone gets a hold of the scroll that's not me, set it on fire. Do you understand?" the Hokage questioned and Miyako nodded, schooling her face into an emotionless mask.

"Of course, Lord Hokage," Miyako stated before leaving the office and rushing towards the front gate.

She left the village, knowing that at full ninja speed it will take her a good three hours to reach Atsuiyama. If all goes well, she should finish the mission in time to cook dinner. She ran along the path, before veering off it to cut through the forest, jumping from tree to tree with the ease of a fully trained shinobi. She wondered if she had enough time in Atsuiyama to get some sweets for herself – sweets she couldn't get in Konohagakure – but quickly pushed the thought aside as the importance of the mission took over.

_I wonder what's in the scroll, _Miyako questioned as she jumped as a weak branch cracked under her. The branch broke as she landed on the branch the next tree over. _Should I have packed some extra supplies just in case?_

"_He never tells me what we're doing, it drives me mad," _a male voice flittered across her mind and she stopped in her running, completely hiding her presence from the two people she could sense coming towards her.

She focused on the thoughts, hoping to get more out of them, to gauge if they were friend or foe. She got her answer as the next thought was directed straight at her. _"Miyako-chan, I suggest you continue on. Kisame is bloodthirsty."_

_That _was a voice she was familiar with. At first, she was tempted to confront him but knew there was no way she would make it out alive – either by his hand or his partners. With that, Miyako shot forward, going around the duo towards the village. Their minds voices faded as she got further and further away. After all, she hadn't spent the last five years doing nothing. She was determined to protect Sasuke – from both Itachi and himself – and trained until she passed out on a daily basis. The training included activating stage three of Shinjitsu no Kokei, which now allowed her to go through one's memories up to two years old.

After that almost altercation, everything was smooth sailing. She reached Atsuiyama, prepared to go to the onsen when she realised, there were three onsens and she had no idea which one Jiraiya was at. Biting her lip, she walked into the village, contemplating how to figure out which onsen she was meant to go to when she heard screams and she followed them to the front of an onsen where woman wearing nothing but towels were beating up a long, white-haired man, she got her answer.

"Take that you pervert!" the girls screamed before walking back into the onsen, making Miyako smirk as she knew exactly who the man on the ground was.

Miyako walked over to the man, kneeling down so she could see his bruised face. He was dazed, and she swears she could see stars spinning around his head. She cleared her throat, waking the man up from his daze. He looked at the girl in front of him, taking in the sight of her ample breasts before as sleazy grin split his face and he lunged towards her, Miyako easily dodging with a look of disgust on her face.

"_You're _the great sannin Jiraiya? I should've expected as much from the one who writes the Icha Icha series," Miyako stated and the man grinned, shooting up and doing a pose.

"That's correct, I am the one, the only Jiraiya! Do you want an autograph?" he questioned.

Miyako snorted. "No, but I would like the scroll Lord Third has requested."

At the mention of the scroll, Jiraiya turned serious, looking the girl up and down properly, noticing the forehead protector on her forehead. "I see, it's in my room. Come with me... ah, who are you?"

"Haruno Miyako, Jiraiya-sama," Miyako replied as she followed the man towards his hotel.

_"Hmm, with that hair and body, I almost thought she was a Shinjitsu,"_ he's thoughts flitted across her mind, making her roll her eyes, a move that the sannin didn't miss.

"So, Miyako-san, how old are you?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Fourteen," Miyako replied as they made their way inside the hotel.

"And you're a Jōnin? Impressive. You must be quite skilled."

"The Hokage believes so. Though I was only promoted a month ago," Miyako explained as he led her into his room and handed her a scroll with a seal only he or the third could open.

"I see, well then, I'm sure the Hokage told you how important this scroll is. Don't let it fall into the wrong hands," Jiraiya stated and Miyako.

"Of course, Jiraiya-sama. I will be off," Miyako stated before putting the scroll into her travel pack and left, leaving a suspicious sannin behind.

_Is she really who she claims to be?_

**...**

"Here you go, Lord Hokage," Miyako stated as she placed the scroll on his desk three hours later.

"Good, did you have any problems?" Hiruzen questioned Miyako frowned.

"It wasn't a problem, per-say, but I did catch the stray thought of two criminals on my way to Atsuiyama," Miyako stated and Hiruzen gestured for her to continue. "I didn't recognise the first voice, however the second one belongs to Uchiha Itachi. He spoke directly to me and mentioned that 'Kisame is bloodthirsty'."

"Itachi?" Hiruzen questioned in surprise as he stared at the young teen in front of him. "And you said Kisame?"

"Yes sir. I didn't make contact with them besides that one thought from Itachi," Miyako replied and Hiruzen frowned.

"Don't speak of this to anyone. And keep an ear out for either of them, they're too close to the village for my liking," Hiruzen stated and Miyako nodded.

"Yes, Lord Hokage."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

**Miyako** sighed as she walked towards the training field where Sasuke was a month later. He had forgotten his lunch – again – and this time Miyako decided to drop it off for him on her way to do her own training. She grinned when she saw the raven haired Uchiha, sitting underneath a tree with a glare on his face as Haruno Sakura chatted away, and a blond-haired boy glared at him.

"Sasuke!" Miyako called, making all three genin look up at the voice.

A look of relief flashed across the Uchiha's face as he saw the bento box in the girls' hand. Sakura sighed, pouting when she realised that – once again – Sasuke's attention was being taken away from her by her own cousin.

"Hn," Sasuke greeted as Miyako reached the genin and handed Sasuke his bento box.

"Honestly, Sasuke, you need to stop forgetting your lunch. I'm not always going to be around to bring it to you. You know that right?" Miyako questioned and Sasuke nodded as the blond boy shot up, pointing to Miyako.

"Hey, hey! Are you Sasuke's girlfriend?"

"Hmm? Oh no, I'm Haruno Miyako, his parental guardian," Miyako replied and the boy frowned.

"Are you related to Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke snorted. "Of course, she is. They're cousins," Sasuke stated as he sat down and began eating his food, enjoying the taste of the teriyaki chicken with rice.

The boy stared in surprise as the purple haired girl smiled. "I'm assuming your Uzumaki Naruto. It's nice to meet the final teammate of Sasuke's, and he's rival."

Naruto's grin widened. "He talks about us? What's Sasuke like when it's just the two of you?"

"More talkative, but that's really about it," Miyako replied as she saw a silver-haired male walking up to the group. "You must be Kakashi-san."

The man studied the young teen in front of him. "You're Haruno Miyako correct? Sakura's cousin, and a Jōnin?"

"That's right. It's nice to meet you, Kakashi-san," Miyako greeted with a bow.

"Hold up, this girl – not much older than us – is a Jōnin like you Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned. "Are you sure she's related to Sakura?"

"And _what_ is that supposed to mean?" Sakura growled, glaring at the now frozen blond as he realised, he just made a big mistake in what he just said.

"He means, you're pathetic," Sasuke stated and Sakura fell to her knees on the ground, depression coming off her in waves at the raven's strong words.

"Sasuke! What have I told you about being civil with others?" Miyako snapped, her hands on her hips as she glared at the twelve-year-old boy in front of her. "I feel sorry for you, Kakashi-san. This team seems to be a handful."

"Understatement of the year," Kakashi muttered as he flipped a page of his book.

"Anyway, I better get going. I'm going to do some training in the next field over. You and your team are welcome to join me if you want," Miyako offered with a kind smile.

"It's fine. We have another mission to complete," Kakashi replied and Miyako nodded before waving to the group and heading towards the nearby training field where she prepared to spend the next few hours training.

**...**

Miyako's training sessions have become more vigorous as the years have gone on. She didn't make Jōnin by training like a chunin – or worse, training like a genin. She made sure to always fir training in whenever she had free time. Her training schedule was always the same:

First hour – warms up, which included running around the training ground a few dozen times, push-ups, sit-ups, stretches, and star jumps.

Second hour – throwing weapon training. Her goal was to have a near perfect aim, a skill that very few shinobi ever develop. Followed by a thirty-minute break to cool off before going into her third hour.

Third hour – training with her ninjato – which is a sword like a katana only shorter. She was becoming very skilled with it, though there was much room for improvement (considering she chose it as her weapon only a year ago).

Fourth hour – practicing her jutsus. This was the hour she ended up the most exhausted and often took the longest. Her focus right now was Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage, and she knew it will be her last B-rank jutsu before she moves onto the A-rank jutsu she picked for herself to learn.

Sometimes, there was another hour – between warms-ups and throwing weapons – where someone would spar with her. Usually it was Takeo – who took the chance to practice his healing jutsus when the two got injured. Though sometimes it was Tsuneo or his fiancé Aya. Lately, she's also been training with Gina, helping her become a better fighter.

Today, just as she finished training with her ninjato, an ANBU appeared. Miyako stopped her training, giving her full attention to the masked man.

"Lord Hokage wishes to speak to you. Now," the ANBU stated simply before vanishing.

Sighing, Miyako put her ninjato away and headed towards the Hokage tower, wondering what her wanted of her this time. She reached the building and knocked on the door before entering. The Hokage smiled as he saw her.

"Thank you for coming here so quickly. I need to be a liaison between Sunagakure and Konohagakure. The chunin exams will be held here this time, but the Kazekage wishes to be present as his children will be competing this year. I want you to deliver scrolls to Sunagakure when needed. Do you understand?"

"Of course, Lord Hokage. Do you have a message for me to deliver now?" Miyako questioned and Hiruzen nodded, handing a bound scroll to her. She took it from him and placed it in her travelling belt that she always wore for cases like these. "Before I leave, I was wondering if you could inform Sasuke for me?"

"Sasuke won't be a problem. He has gone on a c-rank mission with his team to the Land of Waves. I suspect they won't be back for at least two weeks to a month," Hiruzen explained and Miyako smiled.

"Thank you, sir. I will head off now then."

**...**

A week later, Miyako was given the second scroll to take to Sunagakure. She was excited to visit the Land of Wind. The last time going there was two year ago on am escort mission. This time she was going to the ninja village, instead off a small village in one of the many oases in the desert that make up the Land of Wind.

The last message she delivered last week was to the boarder, so she hadn't actually stepped foot in the Land of Wind, much to her disgust.

Miyako wasn't rushing the mission. She didn't need to be at Sunagakure for another three days, and she already a quarter of the way there. She was still in the Land of Fire – which was as different to the Land of Wind as the night is to day – and wouldn't reach the Land of Wind until she was a little under half-way to Sunagakure.

Keeping Miyako company was peregrine falcon named Akemi. Akemi was Miyako's favourite summoning among the falcon summonings. She learnt to summon the falcons a year ago after saving a young falcon from a wolf. Akemi wasn't a fighting falcon; she was a surveillance and messenger falcon. Right now, her job was to keep Miyako company on the long trek to Sunagakure.

"Do you think Sasuke-san will be doing the chunin exams this year?" Akemi questioned Miyako, speaking for the first time since they started their walk a few hours ago.

"I'd prefer if he got more experience first. But, knowing Kakashi-san, I wouldn't be surprised if his team _was_ put up for the exams," Miyako stated and Akemi giggled.

"You're so protective of him. Do you think he's ready for the exams?" Akemi questioned her summoner, who frowned in thought.

'It's not that I don't think he's ready. Skill wise, he was ready when he graduated from the academy. But experience wise? Sasuke isn't a team player, preferring to work on his own, he needs more experience working with his team before he's truly ready for the exam," Miyako stated. "Besides, Sakura-chan is on the team, and she's not ready at _all._ Whilst her knowledge on the ninja world is among the best in her age group, her skills are among the worst. She spends too much time focusing on boys and looking good and not training enough. I've tried to get her to take training seriously, but it hasn't sunk in just yet."

"What about the other kid on the team? The nine-tails host?" Akemi questioned and Miyako frowned.

"I don't know. I heard he was dead last at the academy, but he can use the multi-shadow clone jutsu. That's something that most Jōnin wouldn't even know. He's a wild card," Miyako replied and Akemi nodded in agreement.

"So, do you think–" Akemi stopped mid-sentence, eyes narrowing as she sensed a dark chakra appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

Miyako, sensing the change in her summoning, stiffened, put her hand on her ninjato, ready for an attack. She sent her kekkei genkai out further, but she got no thoughts at all. She could _sense_ the chakra – which was strangely familiar – but couldn't find a voice it belongs to.

"Akemi," Miyako ordered and the bird nodded, shooting up into the air to get a birds-eye-view of the area, whilst Miyako stayed scanning the ground.

She heard a rustle of some leaves and spun around, pulling out some shuriken and throwing them at the bush, only for a blurred figure to jump out of the way and land in front of her. She studied the figure, who stood taller than her by almost ten centimetres. The figure was a male, wearing a dark grey, hooded cloak, and mask moulded into the shape of a wolf.

Miyako stood, ninjato in front of her, prepared for an attack as she realised that the muddled thoughts were of the person in front of her. She frowned, watching as from behind, a male, grey and brown wolf stepped forward, bent down and prepared for a fight. Akemi shot down and landed on her summoners shoulder, eyeing the wolf wearily.

"Who are you?" Miyako ordered but got no response from the male in front of her. "What do you want? You clearly know who I _really_ am, so you must want something."

The male in front of her shifted, his clothes rustling. "You've grown," he responded, tilting his head to the side. "You're stronger. You may be of use to my sensei's plan later on.'

"Who is your sensei?" Miyako questioned and she heard a chuckle from the man.

"I'm not telling you that. Yet."

"Who are you?"

"You can call me... Ookami. For now. I will see you again," the male stated and vanished along with his wolf.

Miyako remained tense, ready for a fight, until she was sure she was alone. Relaxing only slightly, she put her ninjato back, and turned to continue on her path to Sunagakure.

"Are you going to tell Lord Hokage about this?" Akemi questioned and Miyako nodded.

"I will write him a letter later, once we set up camp for the night. I'll send you to deliver the message," Miyako stated and Akemi seemed to frown.

"Are you sure that's wise? What if this Ookami comes back? He may attack you whilst you sleep."

"I will summon Masaki to keep watch. Does that make you feel better?" Miyako questioned and Akemi nodded in agreement.

"Yes, it will."

**...**

Early the next day, Hiruzen was sitting at his desk completing paperwork. He hoped for a calm day, but that hope died when there was a tapping at his window. He faced the window and saw Akemi sitting there with a scroll attached to her back.

He was surprised to see Miyako's summoning, so – with a frown – he opened the window and let the falcon in. He was worried that something had happened to her.

"Lord Hokage. Miyako-sama and I had a run-in with someone. She explains it all in here," Akemi stated and Hiruzen took out the scroll and read it.

Concern flitted across his features as he read the scroll. He placed it down, knowing the whoever this Ookami was didn't come with good intentions. Hiruzen turned to face Akemi.

"Thank you, Akemi. Tell Miyako to keep an eye out for him. I will inform the others to also keep an eye for the man."

Akemi nodded, bowing her head to the Hokage before flying out the window.

**(OMG I would like to thank you all - as usual - for the reviews, favourites, and of course following the story. You have no idea how happy all this makes me. I would also like to ask that if you ever see any spelling/grammar errors/mistypes to let me know (preferably by private message and not in the reviews. Just tell me the chapter and the mistype/error so I can edit it :D). I can't thank you all enough! So, thank you (again) and I hope you stick with this story until the end.)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

**The** rest of the trips to Sunagakure left much to be desired as Miyako didn't run into any trouble. Everything was now sorted, and the Chunin exams were a week away. Miyako was taking some time to rest in her apartment, reading a book, and was startled when the front door opened to reveal an exhausted Sasuke, along with a nervous looking Kakashi.

"Sasuke, is everything alright?" Miyako questioned as she put the book down and rushed to the twelve-year-old boy, checking him over for injuries that she could still faintly see but were obviously healing at good pace.

"There was a complication on the mission," Sasuke replied simply, and Miyako frowned in response. _That _didn't sound too good.

"You go and have a shower, then get some rest whilst I talk to Kakashi-san," Miyako ordered and Sasuke nodding, heading to his room to grab a fresh set of clothes before having a shower and relaxing bath. Miyako turned to face Kakashi, gesturing to the couch in the living room once Sasuke left. "Please, take a seat. Do you want something to drink?"

"I'm fine, Miyako-san," Kakashi replied as he sat down on the couch, Miyako sitting next to him with an expectant look on her face, waiting for his explanation on what happened on the mission. When Kakashi didn't speak Miyako's frown deepened.

"Well? Are you going to tell me what happened? Or am I going to have to guess?" Miyako questioned in annoyance after a couple of minutes of silence on Kakashi's half.

"The mission became complicated at the very beginning. The client had lied about the severity of the mission. We had a run in with two chunin from Kirigakure. Perhaps you've heard of them, the Demon Brothers?" Kakashi started and Miyako pursued her lips, nodding. She _had_ heard of them. "A day later we ran into Momochi Zabuza."

Miyako's eyes widened in shock at hearing that name. "Oh my God, is everyone alright?" Miyako questioned frantically.

"Yes, yes. Sasuke and Naruto both saved me from a water prison jutsu, and we got away after a hunter-nin 'killed' Zabuza," Kakashi stated and Miyako frowned, hearing the quotation marks around the word 'killed'.

"He wasn't dead, was he?"

"No. the hunter-nin was working for Zabuza, and a week later we fought them at the bridge. In the battle, we won after a change in circumstances on Zabuza's side, but Sasuke almost lost his life in the process," Kakashi explained and Miyako's blue eyes widened in a mixture of shock and fear at those words.

"What about Sakura? Is she alright?"

"Sakura? She is fine. She didn't get caught in the crossfire," Kakashi replied and Miyako relaxed. "Actually, that's the other reason why I came here. You see, Sakura is weak, to put it lightly. She did nothing the entire time but tried to defend our client. However, I suspect that she wouldn't have been of much use if an attack was aimed at him."

Miyako nodded in understanding. "Sakura has always been more focused on appearances and boys than training. I'm surprised she was even allowed to graduate from the Academy, if I'm to be honest."

"Hmm, I have to agree," Kakashi stated with a nod. "I am putting them up for the Chunin exams. I don't think they're ready to become Chūnin's, but the experience may help them understand just how serious being a shinobi is. I was hoping that, before the Chunin exams begin, that you can take Sakura on for some private training. Just so she's not completely defenceless."

"Of course. She's my cousin after all. I'd do anything for her," Miyako stated with a small smile. "Is she at home?"

"Yes. As usual with missions like the last one, I had to inform the parents or parental guardians of what happened. I already told Sakura's parents, and now you, because you're Sasuke's guardian. I now need to go and write a full report for the Hokage," Kakashi stated and stood up, Miyako standing up as well.

"Of course. Thank you for informing me about what happened. I will talk to Sakura and see if I can get her to train. Even a little bit of training is better than nothing at all," Miyako stated and Kakashi nodded before leaving.

Miyako then locked the front door and went into the kitchen to prepare rice with chicken and tomatoes for dinner. She decided Sasuke deserved his favourite food after what he went through.

As she cooked, she thought about what she will do to help Sakura. She knew Sakura wouldn't take the training seriously enough to learn new jutsus. Probably wouldn't pay enough attention to learn new Taijutsu either, so both of those were out of the question.

Miyako decided to just build up Sakura's speed, strength, agility, stamina, and the skills she already knew. Who know, maybe the substitution jutsu will save Sakura's life in the upcoming exams.

**...**

The next day, Miyako made her way over to her aunts and uncles house. She knocked on the door, and it opened to reveal Mebuki standing there. The middle-aged woman grinned when she saw her niece and brought her into a strong hug that knocked the breath out of the teen.

"Miyako? What brings you here?" Mebuki questioned the girl as she led her inside and into the living room. "Do you want some tea?"

"No thank you, Mebuki-baa. I just came to see how Sakura is going," Miyako explained and Mebuki nodded in understanding.

"She's fine, even after that atrocious mission. How about Sasuke-kun? He's your ward, isn't he?"

"Sasuke's fine. Recovering but he doesn't seem all that traumatised. Though he may just be faking it," Miyako replied with a frown before shaking her head. "Anyways, I came at request of Kakashi-san. He wants to enter Team Seven into the Chunin Exams, and he asked me to train Sakura to better increase her chances of surviving them."

"Really?" Mebuki questioned in disbelief. "What's he thinking? Putting his first year genins through such an exam? I wish I could say something but its ultimately up to the sensei and Sakura if she enters."

Miyako sat down on the couch, Mebuki sitting across from her on the other couch. "They're not taking being a shinobi seriously. Even Sasuke has in his thick skull that he doesn't need anyone to help him with _anything_. Even after almost dying in the last mission, he's as thick-headed as usual," Miyako explained, pushing some of her purple hair aside. "Kakashi-san believes that having them do the exams will show them that being a shinobi isn't all fun and games and is serious work."

Mebuki frowned but nodded in agreement. "I can see where he's coming from. So, are you going to train Sakura for the next week?"

"Yep. I plan on just building up her speed, strength, agility, and stamina. I also plan on making sure she gets better at the skills she already has. Even the most basic of Ninjutsu can save your life if used in the right way," Miyako explained, thinking back to the time where the standard clone jutsu saved her life by almost pure fluke on a B-Rank mission.

"Well, Sakura is up in her room. She's been awake for an hour, but she hasn't come down for breakfast. Maybe you could get her to come down," Mebuki stated before standing up and leaving Miyako alone in the living room.

Miyako grinned and went upstairs to the room her and Sakura used to share. She knocked on the door and waited for Sakura to open it. When Sakura saw it was Miyako, she grinned and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Mi-chan, what brings you here?" Sakura asked Miyako as Miyako returned her hug.

"Kakashi-san has asked me to train you. But first, I think you should have breakfast," Miyako explained and Sakura frowned and pulled back, pushing some of her waist length pink hair behind her shoulder and out of her face.

"I can't," Sakura stated, gesturing to some scales on the floor of her room. "I gainted weight in the last month. Sasuke-kun will surely notice. I need to go on a diet and lose the weight as quickly as possible."

Miyako sighed, contemplating a way to get Sakura to not only eat but train. After a few second an idea formed in her head and she grinned. "Well... training will help you lose the extra weight. But training on an empty stomach will make you sick and Sasuke would not be happy with you vomiting everywhere. Maybe get some food and we'll do some training. If I know Sasuke, he'll like you more if you train."

Sakura bit her lip as she thought Miyako's words over before nodding with a grin lighting up her features. "That's right! Sasuke would appreciate me better if he knew I was trying to not only look better but fight better for him! Ok! I'll get changed into some training clothes and have breakfast. Then we can train."

"Sounds good," Miyako replied and left the room so Sakura could get ready, a smug grin on her face at her success in convincing Sakura to not only train but to eat as well.

**...**

Miyako hadn't realised the extent on how much her cousin was lacking until she assessed her later that day. While Sakura's knowledge of the ninja world and chakra control was amazing, her skills in everything else were severely lacking. In other words, the pink haired genin needed an intervention, ASAP. And Miyako was more than happy to be the one giving it to her.

"Sakura... how do I put this gently? You suck," Miyako stated as the pink-haired girl was panting on the ground after sparring with another genin Miyako had enlisted to help with this huge task.

Sakura's face fell at Miyako's words but knew her cousin was right. After all, she hadn't even landed a hit on the other genin and was beaten within a matter of thirty second. And this particular genin had graduated at the same time as her. It was humiliating to say the least.

"I dare say you're below average for a recently graduated genin. In fact, your skills are that of a genin who will eventually quit and choose another career in the near future," Miyako continued, making Sakura flinch at the harsh words.

"I'm not that bad! I protected Tazuna-san, did I not?" Sakura tried to defend herself and Miyako just shook her head.

"Standing in front of him in the hopes that your sensei and teammates keep the real threat at bay is _not_ protecting. In fact, it's just hoping for the best. Sakura, I love you, I do, but I can see what Sasuke means by you being weak _and_ annoying," Miyako explained, making the thirteen-year-old girl lose faith in herself and become depressed.

"So, what are you saying? That I'm a lost cause? That there's not point in me even trying?" There were now tears in the girls green eyes and Miyako felt bad.

Miyako shook her head. "No. What I'm saying is that unless you pick up your skills, your teammates will leave you behind. Sasuke won't even glance at you."

"So, what should I do?"

"Kakashi-san has given you to me for this week and in that time, I'm going to make sure you can defend yourself against the most basic of attacks. Training will fall into multiple parts. First, I'm going to improve your basic Taijutsu. Second, your Academy ninjutsu. Third, your ninja tool and trap setting skills. And fourth, how to recognise and dispel a Genjutsu, for both yourself and others," Miyako explained and Sakura nodded, determination flittering across her features. "If I had more time, I'd be training you in other field, but I don't, and I need to fine tune your basics first."

"Mi-chan, even after this week, will you train me? I want Sasuke-kun to notice me, and if it means training more, I will do it," Sakura begged and Miyako smirked, proud at Sakura's determination.

"How about you see if you can survive the first week first. If you can do that, then we'll talk about the future."

Sakura's face filled with fear for a second before she stood up taller, her face set into determination. "I _will_ survive this week, and all the weeks after it."

**...**

The week flew by for Sakura as Miyako pushed her to her limit each day. Sakura could feel herself getting stronger, faster, and more confident in herself and her skills. And, whilst the training was exhausting, she was almost excited to go back for more each day.

Sakura hadn't seen her sensei or teammates since the week prior and was now meeting up with them. She walked towards her two teammates, back straight and head held high. Her confidence didn't go unnoticed by both Naruto and Sasuke, the latter of which also noticed that the fangirl seemed stronger than she did two weeks ago.

"Sakura-chan! You look happy!" Naruto complimented the girl who grinned proudly.

"I spent the last week training with Mi-chan. She taught me some things and I feel like I'm ready for whatever Kakashi-sensei throws at me," Sakura stated proudly, her gaze falling to the raven-haired Uchiha before her.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and Sakura grinned, knowing that that was more acknowledgment than she had gotten from the Uchiha in a long, long time.

**...**

"_What_ did you do to Sakura?" Sasuke questioned Miyako as he returned home from the teams' missions later on in the day.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Miyako replied as she put some ramen noodles on the boil for their dinner.

"You trained her all of last week. Today, when she arrived at our meeting place, she seemed more confident. She even seemed slightly stronger," Sasuke replied with a confused look on his face. "She's never shown interest in training before now."

Miyako grinned. "I just gave her some encouragement."

Sasuke frowned in suspicion, not liking the grin on Miyako's face. "What type of encouragement?"

"The truth," Miyako replied and Sasuke frowned even more, making the girl laugh. "I told her you'd be more interested in her if she was stronger, that's all," Miyako explained turning around to see the horrified look on Sasuke's face. Miyako laughed. "Don't worry. I know you're not interested in my cousin right now. But, who know? Maybe in the future thing might change and you might choose her to be your wife."

Sasuke snorted, a blush on his cheeks. "I'd rather marry Yamanaka Ino. At least _she's_ strong."

"Does it really matter if your wife is strong?" Miyako questioned and Sasuke nodded, standing up straight.

"My father said that a strong woman produces strong heirs," Sasuke stated and Miyako dropped her spoon into the boiling water, staring at the boy in shock at his (fairly sexist) words.

"You are too young to be thinking about that!" Miyako shouted in shock.

Sasuke grunted and went to his room, leaving a dumbstruck Miyako behind.

**...**

"And then he just walked out, not even explaining himself to me," Miyako exclaimed as both Gina and Takeo laughed, picturing Miyako's face over the conversation.

The trio were at BBQ for lunch the next day, and Miyako had just told her friend about what had transpired the night before between her and Sasuke. Everyone at the table thought the conversation between her and Sasuke was just hilarious and could barley hold back their tears.

"Oh my God, you poor thing," Gina said through giggles.

"Though let's be honest, it shouldn't be much of a surprise. He has announced his goals are to kill his brother and restore his clan. Obviously he's already planning both," Takeo stated with a smirk as he grabbed some beef from the BBQ in front of them.

"I _know_, but I didn't realise he's been thinking about it _this_ much. Honestly, dinner last night was awkward," Miyako explained as she grabbed some chicken that had been marinated in a sweet chili and lime marinade.

"What I'm surprised about is that his father had said such a thing to him. He would've been no older than seven at the time," Gina pointed out as she grabbed some fish and placed it on the BBQ to cook.

"I'm not. It's normal for clans to act like that. They instil it into their children young that the stronger the parents the stronger the offspring. Clans want the best of their members after all," Takeo stated and I nodded in agreement, having overheard similar things when my clan was still alive.

"God am I glad I'm not in a clan. It sounds absolutely horrid," Gina stated and Takeo and Miyako shared a knowing look. "And poor Sasuke, the existence of his clan is literally riding on his shoulders. I doubt Itachi is going to be having children anytime soon."

Miyako flinched at the mention of the elder Uchiha. She avoided the name where possible, always referring to hm as the elder Uchiha, or Sasuke's brother. She was still hurt from that night. She reached up and touched the necklace she still wore. Outside of Konohagakure, Itachi was the only one who knew the truth of her heritage. Something she wasn't sure she liked.

"Gina," Takeo hissed as he gestured to Miyako, making Gina's silver eyes widen.

"I'm sorry, Miyako. I forgot about your history with him."

"It's fine. I'm over it," Miyako lied before forcing a grin onto her face. "Anyway, let's just get back to lunch. Got any stories to tell me about the hospital?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Miyako** bit her lip as she sat on a tree outside of the Academy. Today was the day where the Chunin Exams begin, and Miyako was both excited and nervous for her cousin Sasuke. She was told by the Hokage not to interfere and she had no intentions of doing so. She just wanted to watch the duo try their best.

Miyako watched as the trio of genins finally entered the room, wide-eyed at the sight of all the shinobi around them from different villages. Even Sasuke's eyes widened a little bit at the sight. Miyako watched, from a distance and amused, as the trio met up with the other Rookies.

She couldn't help but frown at the thought, not understanding why the Hokage had allowed the rookie genin – not even six months out of the Academy – participate in the Chunin Exams. Then again, she should be blaming their Jōnin instructors.

_Don't they know that people die in these exams?_ She wondered briefly.

"Miyako-san, I see you're here observing Sasuke and Sasuke," Kakashi stated as he appeared next to the girl.

"Yeah. I'm worried about them. _All_ of them. every single rookie is drawing attention to themselves," Miyako stated, watching as a silver haired man with glassed walked up to the group of nine genin. Miyako frowned in thought. "That's the one that quits every exam's, right? When he reaches the second exam he always claims to be exhausted or injured."

"Hmm?" Kakashi hummed, looking over his book to the person Miyako spoke about, a frown underneath his navy-blue mask. "You're right. That's not normal."

"Is that...? Are those...? Information cards?" Miyako stuttered out as the silver haired teen pulled out a stack of cards. Kakashi nodded, frowning as he realised the threat that this particular genin held to those around him.

"Miyako-san, Hokage-sama told me about your predicament and relation to the Haruno's when I took Sakura on as my genin. Tell me, can you hear anything?" Kakashi questioned and Miyako – not even surprised by what he said – nodded and activated her kekkei genkai.

"Sure, Kakashi-san," Miyako replied, concentration on sensing the thoughts surrounding her.

It took her a minute to differentiate whose voice where whose. The more familiar the voice, the easier it is to pick it up. She didn't know the silver haired teens voice, and it took her a full minute to find his thoughts. When she did, she sat up straighter and frowned.

'_The Uchiha seems interested in the one-tailed Jinchūriki. He probably senses the strength coming from the boy and wants a fight. I should inform Orochimaru-sama off this. Perhaps we can use this to our advantage.'_

"What did you hear?" Kakashi questioned, noticing the frown on the female teens face.

"From what I can gathers, he's interested in Sasuke. And it seems he is working with Orochimaru," Miyako stated, just as another thought flooded the girls mind. She could sense the bloodlust and want radiating off it but couldn't locate the person it belonged too.

'_There he is. Good job, Kabuto. Make him trust you. My new vessel.'_

Miyako stiffened, eyeing everyone in the room wearily. "I think... Orochimaru may be here," Miyako stated and Kakashi stood up straight, putting his book away.

"You stay and watch the exams. I'll inform Hokage-sama on what you heard. Keep an eye on the silver-haired genin, and an ear out for Orochimaru," Kakashi ordered before disappearing in a poof.

Miyako turned back to the classroom, grinning when she saw the silver-haired teen on the ground, coughing up blood. At that moment, a large, deeply tanned man walked into the room. She recognised him immediately as Morino Ibiki, head of the Interrogation and Torture Division. She smirked as she quickly realised the point of the test and sat back against the tree, getting comfortable to watch the event unfold.

**...**

She was impressed, to say the least. Miyako was impressed with the group of genin in this year's exam. She hadn't seen so many skilled shinobi in a while. She watched as Sakura wrote down the answers with no problem – only to get her mind invaded by a member of the Yamanaka Clan who was also a rookie. Sasuke used his Sharingan to copy the movements of another's hand, and a Hyūga from last years rookies used his Byakugan to see the answers sheets a few rows in front of him. Of course, she was also impressed as an Inuzuka rookie used his dog to gain the answers, an Aburame rookie from the same teams used his bug, and a female from one of last years rookie teams used mirrors on the ceiling to find her answers. How she got them up there, Miyako wasn't sure, but it sure was impressive.

She was amazed with the level of skill that the Konohagakure genins showed. Of course, she didn't miss when a female Hyūga rookie offered to give the answers to Naruto. Miyako knew the Chūnin's in the room noticed, and everyone waited with bated breath to see if Naruto would take the opportunity. Everyone sighed when he refused, and he actually lost a point because he didn't the opportunity to use an enemy's weakness against her.

Miyako's gaze flitted around the room to see what other tactics the genins used. She had to stop herself from laughing when she saw this year Nara rookie sleeping, already having finished his test. Miyako noticed that one of the Chūnin's wasn't real, and followed the chakra string to a Sunagakure genin, who had yet to write anything on his piece of paper. She also noticed a red-haired Sunagakure genin using an eye made out of sand to gather intel. She admired the skills of the Sunagakure genins, knowing that they will go far in the exams.

She kept watching and soon Ibiki announced the final question. She watched as there was outrage at the question, and then watched as teams gave up one by one. She suspected that more would've given up if Naruto hadn't made a speech that seemed to inspire them more.

Miyako quickly jumped from her tree as a ball shot passed her and into the window. She umped back into the tree and saw a purple haired Jōnin wearing very little standing there. Thanks to the hole in the window, she could hear what was being said and laughed when she realised that the Jōnin was the proctor of the next exams. And that she was a day early.

**...**

"You know, Sasuke, the next exam won't be so easy," Miyako stated as she sat across from Sasuke, eating some gyozas and rice.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in response as he picked up a gyoza and dipped it into some dipping sauce before putting it into his mouth.

"I'm serious, you need to get your sleep. I'll pack you a bag for tomorrow, that way you'll have some food and emergency supplies with you," Miyako stated as she took a sip of her water.

"I don't need it," Sasuke replied and Miyako frowned in annoyance.

"Fine then. But don't come crying to me when you almost die out there. Remember, the next exams is about survival, and just surviving attacks from other shinobi. Just... be careful, ok? I can't lose you too."

Sasuke got up from the table as he swallowed his last bite, thanking Miyako for the food before going to his room. He couldn't help but feel an ache in his heart. The ache appeared whenever Miyako acted like an older sister or parent to him. Even though he wouldn't admit to anyone else, he loved Miyako. Maybe not as anything more than a sister, but he did, and the pain she felt also drove him to seek revenge against the one who caused her the pain. His brother.

Even at a young age, Sasuke knew about the purple-haired girl his brother was infatuated with. In fact, he remembers his mother teasing his brother about it. When Miyako came over to the house, which was few and far between, she often talked with Sasuke and Sasuke couldn't help but to develop a small crush on her. Back then, anyway.

Now, it was a different story. He wanted to become stronger, to avenge his clan, avenge her, and to protect her from his brother. As much as Sasuke hated to admit it to himself, he knew brother had had deep feelings for the girl, and Sasuke often found himself worried that his brother would return and either kill Miyako or take her with him. At this point, Sasuke wasn't sure what was worse.

Grunting, Sasuke grabbed his nigh clothes and went into the bathroom to have a scalding hot shower. He wanted a break from his thoughts, and the pain of the hot water gave it to him. If only for a few minutes.

**...**

While Sasuke was having a shower, Miyako was called to the Hokage's office. She walked in head held high, noting Kakashi, who was standing in a corner, leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets.

"Kakashi informed me on what you had heard earlier today during the first exam," the Third stated simply as the girl shut the door to his office.

"What are we going to do about it?" Miyako questioned and the Hokage sighed, placing his chin on his hands in thought. Miyako frowned, as a snippet of his thought flitted through her mind.

'_Is what she claim true?'_

Miyako glared at the Hokage. "I'm _not_ lying. I know what I heard, and it sounded like Orochimaru is up to something. And it has to do with Sasuke. I propose we have someone watching him at all times. Even during the next exam," Miyako stated and the Third sighed, leaning back into his chair as he took a puff of his pipe.

"You shouldn't be listening in on my thoughts, Miyako-san," the Third chastised before holding his hand up to stop her retort, "however, I trust your judgement and I will put someone to watch Sasuke at all time. In fact, during the next exam, I want _you_ to follow Team Seven to make sure they don't run into Orochimaru. The next exam is the perfect time for Orochimaru to come into contact with Sasuke after all."

Miyako nodded in agreement, happy with what the Hokage had suggested.

"Now then, if that's all, meeting adjourned."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

**The **next day Miyako stealthily followed Sasuke to the Forty-Fourth Training Ground (which also happened to be known as The Forest of Death). She watched as Mitarashi Anko – a sadistic Jōnin with purple hair who worked in the Torture and Interrogation Unit – explained the exam, and then as some pre-academy kids came to do interviews for the Academy Newspaper.

Miyako watched as Anko gave out some consent forms – which the prospective chūnin's had to sign to say that they accepted the fact that they could die and the Konohagakure was _not_ to be blamed for their death. Once the teams signed the forms, they got their scrolls and went to their assigned gates.

Miyako waited for the teams to have been in The Forest of Death for one hour and thirty minutes before following after Team Seven. She easily located Team Seven, sensing their chakra and thoughts to guide her way to them. She found Naruto first, stuck inside a giant snake that she suspected was a summoning. Miyako went to get Naruto out, but stopped when the snake burst, blood, guts, and shadow clones shooting out of it and around the clearing.

"Oh Gods, that's gross," Miyako muttered in disgust before jumping in front of Naruto.

Naruto, who was still freaked out about being eaten by a giant snake, attacked Miyako with a punch. The Jōnin easily dodged the attack and held Naruto's fist when he moved to attack her again. When Naruto recognised the teen in front of him, he stopped, relaxing a little bit.

"You're Sakura-chan's cousin, right?" Naruto questioned the teen.

"That's right," Miyako nodded. "Where are your teammates?" Worry was starting to fill her as she started to have a hard time locating the duo.

"I don't know," Naruto muttered before his blue eyes widened. "I was separated from them, swallowed by this _giant _snake. We have to find them!"

Miyako nodded in agreement, not liking the feeling that something was wrong sitting in her gut. She gestured for the genin to follow her as she still had a slight sense on the whereabout of the two missing genin.

Naruto and Miyako shot through the forest, spotting the duo standing in fear on a branch. Naruto overheard Sasuke giving up the scroll and jumped ahead of a surprised Miyako, snatching the scroll from the air. Miyako sighed as she jumped next to Naruto, Sasuke's onyx eyes widening as Sakura cheered in relief at the sight of her cousin.

"Mi-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, grinning as she felt hope fill her at the thought of being safe from the Grass genin in front of them.

"Miyako," Sasuke muttered, hope also filling his chest at the sight of his guardian.

Miyako ignored the two brightly dressed genin and face the Grass genin, reaching into her mind, only to hear a male voice.

'_A Jōnin? What's she doing here? My plan has just become more complicated.'_

Miyako frowned. "Orochimaru, I presume?"

The Grass-nin let out a smirk. "You saw through my disguise. And quite easily at that. How is that? You're too young to remember me."

"The how doesn't matter. What matters is what are you planning on doing to Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes widened at Miyako's statement. He never understood it, but he knew she had an uncanny ability to guess what one was thinking. Sometimes he thought she had the ability to read minds, though he was sure that _that_ was an ability that was impossible.

"You even know what I'm here for. Interesting," Orochimaru replied, looking the girl up and down in interest. "If I didn't know any better, I would've said you were a Shinjitsu Clan member. But they're supposably extinct."

"Of course she isn't! She's my cousin!" Sakura announced proudly. "And she'll kick your arse!"

"Sakura," Miyako stated, and the girl looked to her cousin in interest, "Shut up." Sakura flinched at the harsh words, and at the glare she hadn't seen for a long, long time.

"Wait a minute. You _are_ a Shinjitsu Clan member. I remember now. You were five years old when we last met. I see you've become a Jōnin since then. Tell me, how many levels of your kekkei genkai have you activated?" Orochimaru questioned with a grin, finally recognising the girl that had gotten away from his grasp all those years ago. He had always wondered what became of her.

"No she's not! She's my cousin! A Haruno! Haruno Miyako!" Sakura exclaimed, not liking the words spouting out of Orochimaru's mouth.

"Oh, do they not know? Kept it from you dear 'cousin'?" Orochimaru teased. "Remember that day, Miyako_-chan?_ You fought me to protect _her._ And yet, you're not even related," Orochimaru stated with a chuckle, Sakura looking between him and Miyako, fear filling her at the idea of having been lied to her whole life.

"It's confidential information, Orochimaru. In other words, a need to know. And Team Seven don't need to know," Miyako stated with a sneer as she tried to reach into Orochimaru's thoughts, only to come up a blank, making the girl frown in frustration. "Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, get out of here. Run as far and fast as you can. I'll hold this snake off."

"But–" Sasuke went to argue, but a glare from Miyako shut him up. He clenched his teeth but nodded. "Ok, Sakura, Naruto, let's get out of here."

"What the hell? We can't just leave her here!" Sakura shouted in anger, glaring at the Uchiha for the first time in her life. Her love for her cousin outweighed her infatuation with the Uchiha. At least, temporarily. "I'm staying."

"You'll only get in my way. Leave. Now," Miyako ordered as she pulled out her ninjato.

Orochimaru smirked as the girl charged towards him. He easily dodged her attack, not underestimating her like he did when she was a mere child. Miyako spun around, aiming her ninjato towards Orochimaru's throat with the intentions of slicing his head clean off. He dodged the attack and shot towards her, aiming a punch towards her face. Miyako dodged the attack – barely – and jumped back a few paces, watching Orochimaru wearily. She noted in the back of her mind the Team Seven were gone.

Orochimaru sighed in exasperation. "It seems Sasuke-kun is gone. I'll have to deal with you before going after him."

Orochimaru summoned a katana and charged towards Miyako. Miyako's ninjato came up to meet the blade in a flurry of sparks. Orochimaru was heavier than Miyako and used his weight against her to push hear back. Miyako dropped her ninjato and dodged the katana's swipe, though it nicked her on the cheek. Miyako weaved some hand signs.

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique," Miyako muttered, shooting the Genjutsu towards Orochimaru.

Orochimaru – having not expected the attack – found himself surrounded by leaves. The leaves fell away and he watched as another him appeared. This one dead on the ground. Fear coursed through Orochimaru, but he managed to break the Genjutsu (after all, it _was_ only a D-Rank jutsu). As the Genjutsu faded, Orochimaru found himself face to face with a lightning hound. The jutsu struck Orochimaru, making him fall backwards into some trees, some of his skin peeling off due to the damage.

Orochimaru chuckled as he pushed himself up to a stand. "I see you're a strategist. Distract me with a low level Genjutsu to line up a high level Ninjutsu. Very clever. But, you'll have to do more than that if you expect to defeat me." Orochimaru rushed through hand signs before drawing blood from his finger. "Binding Snake Glare Spell!"

Two snakes shot out of Orochimaru's sleeves, shooting towards Miyako. She went to dodge them, but they separated, making one come from the top, and the other from the bottom. She quickly found herself trapped by both the snakes, the snakes constricting her breath.

Orochimaru chuckled again. "You fought well, but I have a Uchiha to mark. These snakes should keep you constricted until I'm done. Who knows, I may be back to mark you as well." With that, Orochimaru vanished, leaving Miyako to fight against the snakes, who only tightened their bodies around her.

She quickly found herself losing consciousness as she couldn't breath properly. Her last thought were '_I hope Team Seven got away.'_

**...**

The beeping of medical machines is what woke Miyako up. She found herself in the hospital, taped to multiple monitoring devices. In the room, Hiruzen sat, watching the girl, a grim look on his face. When he saw that she was awake, his grim look turned into a kind, grandfatherly smile. "He didn't get the chance to mark you with the curse seal."

Miyako sighed in relief. "What happened?"

"He got to Sasuke. You've been out for a week. When Anko found you, you were on the verge of death from those snakes of his. Sasuke is in here too," Hiruzen explained, gesturing to the bed on the other side of the room, where Sasuke slept.

"Damn it! I was useless," Miyako muttered, starting at the young Uchiha and the mark on his neck.

"Even I would have trouble fighting him. The only person I know of who could even stand a chance of killing him alone, without losing their life in the process, is probably Itachi," Hiruzen stated, making Miyako flinch at the mention of the man who had given her the necklace she currently wore around her neck.

"You trained him well," Miyako stated with a bitter laugh as she sat up, reaching for the pitcher of water and a glass. She poured herself some water before taking slow sips of the drink. "What will happen to Sasuke now?"

"Sasuke made it into the finals of the chunin exams. He will be training with Kakashi. The seal we put on the curse mark will hold as long as Sasuke's resolution holds. If it wavers, the seal will break," Hiruzen explained, and Miyako nodded in understanding.

"Did Naruto or Sakura make it to the final exams?"

"Naruto did. Sakura tied with Ino," Hiruzen explained with a sigh. "They told me what happened. I explained to all three of them about your heritage. Sakura was shocked. I think that may be why she lost against Ino. She was confused and worried about you and Sasuke. What will you do for the next month?"

"I'll see if Sakura would like to continue her training. We need to talk after what happened in the forest. I'll also keep an ear out for anything to do with Orochimaru," Miyako replied and Hiruzen nodded in understanding, before standing up.

"I'll go and inform the doctor that you're awake. With luck, you will be in the all clear to leave the hospital by the end of the day," Hiruzen explained before leaving Miyako to her thoughts.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Sakura** Haruno was the pink haired 'cousin' of Miyako Haruno. Many of Sakura's teachers have wondered in the past how the pink-haired girl could be so weak compared to her purple-haired cousin. No one, not even Sakura herself, knew that Miyako was the last surviving member of Shinjitsu Clan.

Now that Sakura knows, she feels alone. Confused even. Left out. Her parents knew. The Hokage knew. Hell, her own sensei knew. But she didn't. so, when Sakura knocked on the door to Miyako's apartment, she wasn't sure what she was going to say. What she didn't was that the first word to come out of her pink lips after seeing Miyako was "why?"

Miyako sighed and gestured for her cousin to come into the apartment she shared with her cousin's infatuation. Sakura hesitated, but decided to go in, removing her shoes at the genkan before following Miyako to the lounge room. There, Sakura took a seat on the couch, moving a jumped with the Uchiha symbol on it to the floor. Sakura never though Sasuke would be a bit of a slob but considering that he's clothes were the only ones lying around, it appears he was.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. I wanted to tell you sooner, but your parents thought you weren't ready," Miyako explained as she walked to the kitchen and turned the kettle on, grabbing two mugs from the cupboard and placing them on the off-white coloured bench. "I thought we should've told you when you graduated. But they wanted to wait until you were a chunin."

"So, we're not cousin? So me being weak is _genetic?_ I'll never amount to anything more than a chunin at most, just like my parents?" Sakura questioned with tears in her green eyes.

Miyako looked at the young teen in surprise, before filling the cups up with the now boiled water and grabbing a green tea bag for each cup. She placed the bags into the cups and turned to face Sakura whilst they soaked in the boiling water.

"Of course not. You being weak isn't because off genetics. It's because you don't take training seriously. There are plenty of shinobi of high ranks that come from a nameless family or low-level clan. They work hard to be strong. You too, can reach their heights if you trained hard enough," Miyako explained, turning back around and pulling the teabags out of the tea, placing them on the sink and walking over with the mugs in her hand. She handed one to Sakura.

"Thanks," Sakura said, before taking a small sip of her drink. "Training like how you had me train the week before the chunin exams? Is that the sort of training you're talking about?"

Miyako sighed, shaking her head in the negative. "No. It would need to be more intense. You need to find a fighting style that works for you. No one is meant to be an all-rounder in fighting. Everyone specialises in one way or another." Miyako paused as she took a sip from her tea. "For example, my fighting is based predominantly on Taijutsu and use of weapons, as well as my kekkei genkai. Sasuke's is predominantly ninjutsu and Taijutsu... for now. Naruto is predominantly Taijutsu combined with his shadow clones and throwing weapons. Everyone is different. Kami knows my team was."

"You had an Uchiha on your team, didn't you?"

Miyako nodded, a solemn look crossing her features as she thought about her best friend. "Uchiha Hisoka. He was my best friend. He focused on Genjutsu and Ninnjutsu above all. Takeo, my other teammate, became a medic-nin. He fights mostly using his medical knowledge and Taijutsu. My sensei, Tsuneo Higa, was a ninjutsu master. We were a well-balanced team." A small smile cross Miyako's features as she thought about her old team and took another sip of her drink.

"What about me? I'm not particularly good at _anything._"

"Not true. You have amazing chakra control. You could become a great medic-nin. And your intelligence is great too, you'd also become a good Genjutsu master if you trained hard enough. You have so much potential. Even if you're the only one in your team not from a clan," Miyako stated and Sakura frowned.

"Naruto's not from a clan," she stated and Miyako shook her head.

"Not true. He's from the Uzumaki Clan. They're not a proper clan anymore, their members are scatter to the four corners of the Earth. But they were once a powerful clan known for their large quantities of chakra and their sealing jutsus. They even lived in their own hidden village," Miyako explained, and Sakura stared at the girl with wide eyes.

"So, I really _am_ the odd one out in my team. No kekkei genkai like Sasuke-kun. No secret clan jutsu or clan abilities like Naruto. I'm just normal, boring Sakura," Sakura whimpered, tears now spilling from her eyes as Miyako slammed her mug onto the counter, eyes a stony blue.

"No you're not! Being a part of a clanless family give you an advantage clan kids don't have! No one expect anything from you. They don't expect you to excel in a certain area, they don't expect you to be anything more than a chunin. In other words, your enemies will see you as weak and underestimate your skills. You're a blank slate. You can be the start of your own shinobi family history," Miyako announced with a grin. "_And_ I'm going to help you get there. For the next month, we're going to train and train and train. I'll discover your chakra nature and teach you jutsus' to match. We'll make you the best kunoichi of your generation. What do you think?"

Sakura bit her lip as she looked at her almost empty mug of tea. She knew what Miyako's training was like. She went through said training only a few short weeks ago. She knew that this time, the training will be harder, faster, and longer, and the thought of it already made her exhausted. Yes something in her, the urge to prove herself, to not fall even further behind her two male teammates urged her to train. And maybe, just maybe, her Sasuke-kun would notice the new and improved Sakura.

Sakura grinned, placing her mug on the coffee table in front of her and standing up, hand in a fist. "I'll do it!" Sakura announced proudly, and Miyako grinned.

"Great! I'll plan out a training routine tonight. Meet me at Training Ground Sixteen at six o'clock tomorrow morning. And make sure you have a good breakfast. I'm not letting you pass out on me due to lack of fuel in your system. Also, ask your mother to pack a bento for you for tomorrow. You won't be leaving the training grounds until almost six o'clock," Miyako ordered and Sakura gulped but nodded.

"I understand, Mi-chan. See you tomorrow!"

Sakura left after putting her shoes on and Miyako smiled as she went about cleaning up the mess from the drinks and Sasuke came out of his room, leaning against the wall to the kitchen, looking out the window. He watched as Sakura made her way through the streets.

"Do you think she can become strong?" Sasuke asked Miyako and Miyako looked at him with a grin.

"I think that one day, she could even surpass me."

**...**

At six o'clock in the morning, on the dot, Sakura arrived at Training Grounds Sixteen. There, she saw Miyako already waiting near some sparring stumps. Next to the stumps she saw a bento that she knew was Miyako's lunch and placed her lunch down on top of it before facing her cousin.

"OK, so I thought long and hard about how to go about your training. I decided that first things first we should find out your chakra nature," Miyako stated, holding up a piece of chakra paper. "I'm sure you know what this is. But just to be sure. This is chakra paper; it reacts to the nature of your chakra. It turns wet with water. Crinkles with lightning. Slashes in half with wind. Crumbles with earth and bursts into flame with fire. All you have to do is run some chakra into the paper to find out your chakra type... or types."

Sakura nodded in understanding and grabbed the piece of paper off Miyako. Sakura focused her chakra into the paper and was surprised when it soaked through and then crumbled. "Water and earth? I have two?"

"Amazing! You don't often find people with a natural ability for two chakra natures. Unfortunately, I can't help you with earth based ninjutsu. However, I _can_ help you with water based ninjutsu. My best friend, Gina Ejiri is a water based ninjutsu expert, as well as a medic-nin. I'll ask her to join us some days for your training," Miyako explained and Sakura nodded in agreement.

"So, what now, Miyako-sensei?"

Miyako grinned at the new title. She always wanted to teach someone what she knows. "OK, so for the first hour we will be warming up with simple push-ups, sit-ups, and light jog. The second hour we'll be perfecting your throwing weapons skills. The following two hours after that we'll be focusing on Taijutsu, teaching you new skills and practicing old ones. Then we'll focus on non-throwing weapons. We will choose a weapon best suited for you, such as a katana, ninjato, and the likes for you to train with. After those three hours are up, we have an hour for lunch and a break. After lunch, we'll warm up again for an hour, then spend two hours practicing your ninjutsu skills. And the last two hours will be spent on building up your endurance, strength, and flexibility. Which remind me! I have a gift for you."

Miyako grinned as she leant down and picked up some weights from the ground. "They are one kilogram each. Each day, we'll add another kilogram. So it goes up by four each day. These will help you build up your strength and endurance and is one of the oldest training tools to date. Anyone who does Taijutsu should use these to train with. I know I do, and so does my old teammate Takeo."

"I saw Lee take his off during the chunin exams. He was so fast. Will that happen to me?" Sakura questioned as she took the weights off of Miyako and started to put them on her arms and legs.

"In time. If you stick to it. Now then, give me twenty-push ups, sit-ups, and five laps around the training field!" Miyako ordered and Sakura nodded.

"Yes, Miyako-sensei!"

Sakura shot off to do her warm-ups as Miyako leant against a stump, her gaze falling up to a tree where Sasuke rested, watching his pink-haired teammate train below him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen **

**Miyako **watched with pride as Sakura trained hard. The month was almost up, and Sakura is stronger, faster, and overall _better_ than ever before. She was more confident in herself and had seemed to almost mature in the short month since they started. Miyako couldn't wait for Sasuke and Naruto to see her cousin now. She knew they'd both be impressed.

Right now, Sakura was sparring with a genin who graduated the previous year. They were exchanging blows, using Taijutsu only. Sakura and the genin had been training together since the beginning, and today was the first day that Miyako could picture Sakura coming out on top of the spar. And sure enough, with a kick to the knee joint, Sakura managed to pin her training partner down to the ground, a kunai to the genins neck.

Miyako grinned and started to clap slowly at the show the two genins had put on. Sakura looked up in shock, sweat dripping down her porcelain skin as she realised what she had done. Sakura grinned, shooting off her partner and running over to Miyako.

"I did it, Miyako-sensei! I beat her!"

"I knew you would, one day. Tomorrow is the final exam, after that you can show the boys how much you've improved," Miyako stated with a grin and Sakura smirked, standing up straighter and pushing some of her short hair behind her ear.

"Will you be attending, Sakura-san?" the other genin questioned as she stood up. Her pride was hurt a little bit, but she was proud of the girl that beat her all the same.

"Yep. What about you, Mi-chan?" Sakura answered, looking toward her cousin.

"Yes, I will be attending. Lord Hokage has set me up as security for the arena. I will be standing somewhere watching for suspicious activity," Miyako explained. "Now then, that's enough training for today. How about you two go and rest before tomorrow?"

"Sounds good. Do you want to get some dango with me, Sakura-san?" the genin asked Sakura.

"No thanks. I'm going to show off my new skills to Ino. See you around," Sakura replied before running off, the genin following her at a slow pace.

Miyako sighed before making her way out of the training field. She was tired, never allowing her Hidden Jutsu to turn off for even a m minute after the threat of Orochimaru became prevalent within the village. And whilst she wanted nothing more than to rest, she had to take up guard duty near and around the Uchiha Compound.

She made he way to the edge of Konoha, shivering at the sight of the abandoned compound which had once held the great – but still powerful – Uchiha Clan. She avoided this place as often as she can. But sometimes she was placed on guard duty. This area was dilapidated that it was easy for missing-nins to sneak in and out of the village. Even knowing this weakness, there was only ever one guard covering the area instead of the standard two to four.

Miyako stopped in front of the gateway leading into the compound before taking a deep breath and walking in. Her job right now was to search every house to make sure no one who wasn't supposed be there was there. It would take her the better part of two hours to thoroughly check the houses, and she was on the shift for four hours total.

Miyako moved in and out of the houses, going into abandoned kitchens that still had rotten food waiting at tablets, living rooms with dusty couches and old-fashioned TV sets, bathrooms – some of which held blood in the bath or shower where a member had been killed, and bedrooms where beds that were set up for the night were waiting for their owners to return. All the houses still held their furniture, knickknacks, and other personal possessions, though now most of it was covered in dust and moth bitten, and most of the rooms had a least one remaining bloodstain.

Miyako soon reached the house she dreading the most. The home of her best friend and teammate Hisoka. She walked in slowly, heaviness filling the air as she looked around the entranceway. She walked into the kitchen, where a bloodstain sat next to the stove – right where Uchiha Shizuka, the mother of Hisoka, had been when Itachi swooped in and ended hr life.

Miyako flinched at the thought before making her way into the living room where another bloodstain was situated on the couch where Uchiha Michio – the father of Hisoka – had been when his life came to an end. Miyako made her way upstairs to the bedrooms, checking them for signs of life. The last room she checked was Hisoka's old room. She opened the door and froze, pulling a kunai out as she saw the broad-shouldered figure of Ookami.

"_What_ are you doing here?" Miyako questioned, studying the grey clad, wolf masked male in front of her.

"Checking things out," Ookami replied simply, picking up the team photo of Team Four. "You and your teammates seem happy in this picture."

"Whata do you want?"

"Hmm? Can't I come and see how you are doing?"

"Not when you're a threat to the village."

"A threat...? I guess I am. Though I suspect that Orochimaru is more of a threat at this moment, is he not?"

"Are you working for him?"

"I'm working for another," Ookami replied, his head turning to look around the room at the faded paint on the walls and dust covered everything. "For a mind reader, you're easy to sneak up on. I've been following you for a few days now."

Miyako froze in shock. She'd been followed for a few days? How had she not noticed? That was when Miyako realized she couldn't get a single thought out of the males' head. It was like his mind was either shielded... or empty.

"You know who I am. You know my skills. That suggest to me that you have contact with someone who figured them out. They only one I can think of who would share my skills with the world is Uchiha Itachi. So tell me, are you working for him?"

The male snorted. "Work for Itachi? No. He works alone. Accepting missions that turn him into a criminal. Make the love of his life hate him? I work for another, much _deadlier_ person. Though if you ever met him, you wouldn't he was all that scary."

Miyako frowned, putting that information away as she focused on something that – at this moment – seemed more important. "What do you mean by Itachi accepting missions that turn him into to a criminal?"

The male before her chuckled darkly. "How much do you _really_ know about the Uchiha Massacre? Do you honestly think Itachi would've been able to wipe out his whole clan, all by himself? Surely you would've caught a glimpse into his mind before you ran off from him."

Miyako let out a breath, knowing what the male in front of her was implying. She remembered it clearly, the though rushing through Itachi's head. _'I'm doing this for Konoha. I'm doing this for Sasuke.'_ She had always wondered what that thought had meant, but never thought to pursue it. If Ookami was telling the truth, there was more to the massacre than a Uchiha going rogue, and perhaps, even an accomplice.

"I see I've piqued you interest. Maybe you should ask the Hokage what he knows about that night one of these days. After all, he can't lie to you. No one can," Ookami stated and then vanished in cloud of smoke.

**...**

Miyako stood on the roof of the arena where the last of the Chūnin Exams was being held. She was posted here along with sixteen other (which included both Takeo and Tsuneo). They were the security, along with some hidden ANBU for the event. Miyako was located right on top of the kage seats. Takeo was fifty metres to the right, and Tsuneo was fifty metres to her left. Every fifty metres was another Jōnin.

Down in the arena itself, the participating genins stood, with only two missing. Miyako frowned as she looked for both Sasuke and Naruto, but grinned when she watched Naruto run in, being chased by a herd of bulls.

After Naruto's arrival, the proctor of the exam went over the rules. From her place on the roof, Miyako couldn't properly hear what was being said, but she got bit and pieces that were brough up from the speakers in the arena below her.

Miyako watched as everyone but Naruto and a genin she knew to be Hyūga Neji left the arena to the waiting room where they can also watch and analysed the matches below them.

Soon the match between Neji and Naruto being, and Miyako watches as Naruto puts up one hell of a fight. She – like many in the crowd – doubted that Naruto would be able to put up much of a fight to the Hyūga protégé – let alone win the fight – so when he does win she stared in surprise.

_Looks like Sakura's not the only one whose been training hard this last month,_ Miyako thought with a smile as she watched the blond-haired ninja run around with cheers of the crowd surrounding him.

If course, the high brough on from the fight was quickly diminished as restless anticipation filled the air for the next fight – which was supposed to be between Uchiha Sasuke and Gaara of the Sand.

However, Sasuke appears to be a now show – either that or running late – and that match was postponed and the next match was to take place. But that too ended quickly as before the match even begun, one of the contestants forfeited.

Finally the third match brought entertainment through the brain of Nara Shikamaru and the boisterous attitude of Gaara's older sister Temari. The match itself was long and drawn out, as the Nara used his strategies to slowly bring Temari into the position he needed her in. Just as everything fell into place, three words rang out through the area.

"I give up."

An our roar ran through the crowd at those three, little words as Temari was announced the winner of the third match. No one understood what just happened, but Miyako chuckled as she realised that _that_ was something to be expected from a Nara.

But now it was time for Sasuke's and Gaara's match, and there was still no sign of the Uchiha.

Miyako frowned, cursing Kakashi out. _Of all days to be late._

Just as the proctor was about to announce Sasuke's loss, the Uchiha and Kakashi arrived in a swirl of leaves. Miyako grinned at the pose, and she wondered if that was what took most of their time. They spoke to proctor for a few minutes, before the proctor waved Gaara down from the stands.

A few minutes later, Gaara stood in front of Sasuke in the middle of the arena. The proctor began the match and everything went into a flurry of sand and quick movement. Sasuke attacked, Gaara defended. Gaara attacked, Sasuke dodged. Sasuke had obviously gotten faster as he managed to land a hit on Gaara. From that point on, Sasuke landed more and more hits on the red-haired shinobi, until Gaara was forced to hide himself away in a ball of sand.

Sasuke attacked the ball, only for it to do nothing, leaving Sasuke bleeding. Then, Sasuke weaved a few hand-signs, Miyako's eyes widening as she watched as a ball of lightning chakra surrounded his hand, making loud chirping sounds.

_He taught him the Chidori?_ Miyako gasped in surprise as Sasuke charged towards Gaara, breaking through the sand ball, hitting Gaara in the centre. Everything stood still, no one moved, and everyone held their breath, watching, waiting for the next move.

"My blood!" Gaara shouted as an arm of some sort shot out through the hole, aiming for Sasuke. Sasuke barely dodged the attack before the sand ball crumbled, leaving a panting and injured Gaara in the middle of the arena.

A kunai shot passed Miyako., forcing her to turn and face the sand shinobi who was behind her. She quickly noticed that the other Jōnin guards were engaged in battle and pulled out her ninjato. She charged towards her opponent, slicing him down in one swipe before jumping upwards to dodge a wind jutsu headed her way.

Miyako faced her new opponent and knew, right then and right there, that Sunagakure and Otogakure were working together to attack Konohagakure. She attacked the new opponent, but the opponent dodged, laying a cut on Miyako's face with her kunai. Miyako and the opponent then got into a heated Taijutsu battle, going back and forth with punches, jabs, kicks, and chops. Occasionally pulling out kunai and shuriken and at one point, clashing ninjato against ninjato.

Soon, Miyako's opponent was dead and she shot off into the stand where civilians and shinobi who couldn't sense Genjutsu slept. She faced off with more enemy shinobi, noting for the first time the hole in the wall of the arena and figures of Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru rushing through, following a little pug.

"Miyako! The Hokage!" Takeo shouted as he dodged a water bullet from a sand shinobi.

Miyako pulled her ninjato out of the abdomen o f her opponent and looked up to see the Hokage trapped in a purple square, with who she guessed was Orochimaru. She didn't have time to worry about the Hokage – however – as three large snakes were summoned in the distance. "I'm going to deal with the snakes!"

"Ok, I'll stay here and protect the civilians," Takeo nodded and Miyako jumped into the air, summoning a large falcon the size of the three snakes attacking the village.

"What's going on, Miyako-sama?" the male falcon questioned as he shot towards the snakes.

"Konoha's under attack from Suna and Oto. We need to deal with those snakes, and quickly," Miyako stated and the falcon nodded, charging for the snakes. "Aim for the eyes. Try to blind them to make it easier for us to defend from them."

"Yes, Miyako-sama," the falcon replied and shot towards the snakes, talon at the ready. The falcons talons sliced through the eyes of the first snake, blinding it before shooting off to the next snake, doing the same thing. The third snake, however, was expecting the attack and lunged towards the bird.

Miyako jumped off, landing on the snakes head and shot towards the eye, digging her ninjato in it and pulling one eye ball out before jumping off the snake and landing on top of her falcon. The falcon shot back into the sky as Miyako pulled the eyeball off the end of her ninjato, throwing it on the ground.

The snake – now thrashing around in pain – was being overwhelmed by the chūnins and genins below it. Miyako jumped down onto the snake, using her chakra to get to the other eyeball and removing that one as well, leaving the snake bloody and completely blind. Miyako then jumped off the snake, landing on the roof of a destroy building where the genin and chunin fighting the snake were standing.

"Use your strongest attacks to kill that thing! We need it gone ASAP!" Miyako ordered as the group stared at the purple haired girl in awe as she removed the eyeball from her ninjato, throwing it onto the ground. "Well then? Let's attack!" Miyako snapped as she formed hand signs and sent a wind blade towards the thrashing snakes' neck.

The other shinobi followed her movement quickly, and soon the snakes head was severed from its body. "Quickly, we need to deal with the other two!" Miyako ordered and group shot of to the closest snake. They joined another group there and used the same tactic, slicing the head from the snake before moving onto the final snake, only to find that it was dealt with by Jiraiya.

As he finished off the snake, the Oto and Suna shinobi retreated and the barrier stopping the Hokage from escaping fell.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Miyako's **eyes were filled with tears as she stood in line with the rest of the village at the funeral of the Third Hokage. The sky was grey, raindrops falling from the dark clouds. In front stood the crying grandson of the Third – Sarutobi Konohamaru – along with the Thirds son Sarutobi Asuma. Sasuke stood next to Naruto who was next to Konohamaru, who was next to Umino Iruka – one of the teachers at the Academy.

"This is horrible," Takeo stated from next to Miyako as people placed a white flower near the picture of the Third Hokage. "He didn't have an heir planned."

"I'm sure the council has an idea on who will be the Fifth Hokage," Tsuneo stated from the other side of Miyako. Next to him was his fiancé – and one of Miyako's teachers – Higa Aya, who wasn't even trying to hide her tears.

"Who do you think they'll choose?" Takeo questioned as the row in front of them went up to the stand.

"Probably either Shimura Danzo or one of the sannin," Miyako stated as her row moved forward and placed the flowers on the stand. She overheard Naruto asking why this had to happen and Iruka answering. "Hopefully its either Lady Tsunade or Lord Jiraiya," Miyako added as they went back to their row.

"You don't like Lord Danzo?" Takeo questioned and Miyako frowned, lowering her voice even more as she answered.

"I don't trust him. I overheard his thoughts once, and I know he was the cause for my families murder," she explained, making Tsuneo, Takeo, and Aya stare at her in surprise. "This village would fall apart if he were to ever become Hokage."

**...**

Later that day – now dressed in her ninja attire – Miyako was helping with the clean-up of the village. Her job? Dealing with the carcasses of the three snakes she helped kill during the battle. It was easy enough to dispose of them. they had to cut them up into little pieces and then take the pieces to the surrounding forest so nature could do its thing. The problem? The task as a whole was just plain gross.

"This is so gross," Takeo stated with a groan as he slit the snakes' brain into two. "Seriously, did you have to kill them?"

"It was either that or they do more damage to the village than we can handle," Miyako replied as she threw the brain pieces onto the cart, which was then hauled off by a group of genin and two oxen. "Besides, we're lucky this is _all_ we have to clean up. Imagine if more than three had been summoned?"

Takeo shuddered at the thought. "You know, they're still locating missing people. Gina's still missing."

"I'm sure she's fine. She's strong willed," Miyako replied with a frown, worry building up at though of her friend.

"Haruno Miyako and Fuchigami Takeo?" a chunin questioned as he walked up to the two Jōnin.

"That's us," Takeo stated and the ninja gave them a sad smile.

"Ejiri Gina has been found. She was beheaded in battle, but she took down three Oto and Suna shinobi in the process. I was asked by her family to come and get you for her funeral," the ninja explained and Miyako froze in place, tears welling up in her blue eyes.

"Of course. Thank you for informing us," Takeo replied with a blank face, grabbing Miyako's hand and leading her away to the cemetery, where whole families and friends were grieving their lost loved ones.

They soon found the Ejiri family, which consisted of chūnins Ejiri Masa and Rika – Gina's parents –, Jōnin Takumi – Gina's older brother – and genin Yutaka – Gina's younger brother. All had tears in their eyes. When they saw Takeo and mIyako they pulled them into a hug as their fazes fell to the brown coffin in the hole in front of a newly erect tombstone.

"Gina.." Miyako whimpered as she walked up to the hole. "I failed another friend."

"Miyako-chan, this wasn't your fault," Masa stated, looking at the teenage girl in pity. He remembered when the four friends used to come over for sleepovers back in the Academy days, and it saddened his heart to know that only two of those bright-eyed Academy Students were left..

"He's right, Miyako. You did your part in the battle, dealing with one of the largest threats to the village. There was no way you could be in two places at once," Rika stated as she pulled the girl into a hug.

"B-but first Hi-Hi-kun, and G-Gina. Who's next? My aunt and uncle? Sasuke-chan? You guys? You are like an extended family to me. I can't bare the thought of losing any of you," Miyako cried into Rika's shoulder as Takeo let a tear slip. "Look at me, crying when I wasn't as close to her as you were, Takeo." Miyako let out a dry laugh, looking up to her best friend.

"Close?" Takumi questioned.

"We had just started dating last week," Takeo explained as another tear fell. "I thought that maybe it would be forever with her... but now..." Takeo turned his back on everyone and started to walk away. He couldn't face the family of the girl he loved when he should've been there to protect her, and not healing fallen comrades.

"I-I didn't know big sister had a boyfriend," Yutaka stuttered out in surprise and Miyako gave a small smile.

"They were so good together. They could spend house upon hours talking about the latest in medical-ninjutsu. I was shipping them together since childhood, if I'm going to be honest. I had hoped that when they got older they would marry and have beautiful children," Miyako explained.

"I had the same thoughts with you and Hisoka-kun," Rika stated with a wistful smile, making the girl look at her in surprise.

"Hi-kun? Why would you think that, Rika-san?"

"He was in love with you. Anyone could see it. If the massacre hadn't happened, I think you would have become a close couple," masa stated with a grin, his wife nodding in agreement. "Gina thought so too. She was, as you said, shipping you and Hisoka-kun."

Miyako looked at the couple in surprise, having never realised that Hisoka had any form of affection for her outside of their close friendship. "Well, it's too late now." Miyako gave a wistful smile as she turned back to the body, kneeling down. "Don't worry Gina, I promise to look after Takeo. I'd rather die than let him die. You won't be forgotten, my sister."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

**The** next day the clean-up continued. Miyako had just finished cleaning up the second of the snakes and was making her way to the third when she sensed a _very_ familiar chakra nearby. She froze, mid-step, reaching out with her mind as she searched for the location of said chakra.

"Miyako-san."

Miyako jumped in surprise and turned to face Kakashi, who was leaning against a building with his book out, though this time he appeared to not be reading it. "Kakashi-san, what brings you here?" Miyako questioned with a weary smile, still tense from sensing the familiar chakra.

"I'm waiting for Sasuke," Kakashi stated with a shrug. "Have you seen him lately?"

"Not since last night. He didn't even eat dinner. It was such a waste," Miyako replied with a pout as she leaned up against the building next to Kakashi, noting the chakra she could sense was stronger, obviously in the building, though she heard no thoughts. "Where's the rest of your team?"

"I'm not sure where Sakura is, but Naruto is heading off with Jiraiya-sama to find Lady Tsunade," Kakashi explained and Miyako raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"Lady Tsunade? Is she going to be the next Hokage?"

"That's the plan," Kakashi replied as Asuma and Kurenai walked into their view. "Hey. You two look good together. Are you two dating?" Kakashi asked the two, putting his book away in the process.

"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't like sweets," Kurenai questioned and Asuma nodded in confused agreement. "Hello, Miyako-san." Miyako nodded in acknowledgment of Kurenai's greeting.

"I'm here to pick up a few things. And I'm also waiting for Sasuke," Kakashi explained.

"It's very different for you to arrive first, Kakashi," Sasuke stated as he walked up to the group of four. He looked into the shop and frowned. "I hate sweets."

"Do you?" Kakashi questioned and Miyako nodded.

"Yep. He doesn't even eat ice cream or most chocolate. He doesn't mind dark chocolate though. Not that I can I blame him. Dark chocolate is divine," Miyako explained as she noticed the familiar chakra was now gone, making her frown.

"Well, we best be heading off," Asuma stated and waved bye to the trio before leaving with Kurenai to scope out the danger.

_Miyako-san go with them. They'll need the backup,_ Kakashi thought out to Miyako who nodded in agreement.

"I need to get going too," Miyako stated before walking off, following the thought waves of Asuma and Kurenai. She followed them to the river, where she saw two men in black cloaks with red clouds on them. Both of their chakra's were familiar, one more-so than the other.

Asuma and Kurenai stood in front of the men on the water, blocking their path as Miyako walked up behind them. She easily recognised the shorter of the two as Itachi, but she ignored him and looked at the largest of the two, who she suspected to be Hoshigaki Kisame thanks to her almost run-in with them a few months back.

"You guys don't look like the locals. Why are you here?" Asuma questioned the men.

"Long time no see, Asuma-san. Kurenai-san. Miyako-chan," Itachi replied as he removed his making the two Jōnin senseis stiffen up.

"So, you know who we are? Does that mean you were a shinobi originally from this village?" Asuma questioned stiffly.

"Of course he was. It's Uchiha Itachi," Miyako stated and Itachi removed his straw hat and opened up part of his clock, crimson eyes locked only on Miyako who was now meeting his red gaze with her blue.

"You three already know Itachi, so I should introduce myself," the taller man stated and removed his hat, revealing blue skin and shark-like features. "I'm Hoshigaki Kisame. Now we all know each other."

"There is no need for a greeting. I'll just have to take care of you both," Asuma stated and Miyako sighed at his brashness.

"Not on your own you don't," Miyako stated simply and Kisame chuckled.

"It seems the people from your village don't like you, Itachi," Kisame stated with a fanged smirk.

Kurenai's eyes widened as she had an epiphany. "I know who you are. Hoshigaki Kisame, a former Kirigakure shinobi. You were suspected of killing the daimyo as well as planning the destruction of other countries. Therefore, you are a missing-nin that Kirigakure and the other countries are looking for. You are all S-Ranked criminals from the bingo book."

"You know, I think we all already knew that, Kurenai-san," Miyako stated, sarcasm dripping from her voice. When she gets nervous, she gets sarcastic, and being in front of her old crush – one who happened to have massacred his entire family to potentially have saved Sasuke – was nerve racking, even for the strongest of shinobi. Her gaze went back to Itachi. "How dare you come back tot the village after what you've done to us, and Sasuke."

"Asuma-san, Kurenai-san, Miyako-chan, _please_ don't interfere. I don't want to kill any of you," Itachi stated blankly, making Asuma snort in disbelief.

"I never thought a person who killed his own family would say such words," Asuma stated, and Kurenai nodded in agreement. "I know you wouldn't be here without a reason, so what is it? Why are you here, Itachi?"

Kisame frowned and pulled out his sword. "That is pissing me off. Should I kill him?" Kisame questioned and Itachi frowned.

"Looks like they won't let us leave the village easily. But don't go too far, you could cause more trouble than needed."

"Then it's decided?" Kisame paused for a second before rushing forward, swinging his sword towards Asuma. Asuma blocked with his chakra blades, protecting Kurenai in the process. Kurenai weaved some hand signs, and before Miyako could tell her it was a bad idea, she vanished from view, hiding in a Genjutsu.

Kisame smirked and the bandaged around his sword ripped apart as it sliced into Asuma's arm. "My sword, Samahada, is not used to cut people. It's used to slice them to pieces," Kisame announced proudly as Asuma bent down, clutching his arm in pain.

"Kurenai, you are pretty slow," Asuma puffed out, just a tree sprouted from the ground behind Itachi, wrapping him up with its branches. Kurenai came out of the tree with her kunai, all intentions to kill the man before her, only for Itachi to switch the two.

"This level of Genjutsu is useless against me," Itachi stated simply and pulled out a kunai/. He aimed it at her stomach, but it was blocked by Miyako with her own kunai. Itachi's eyes widened in surprise at her speed.

"Don't think I'll let you hurt her," Miyako snapped, and Itachi's eyes narrowed.

"Do you really think you stand a chance against me, Miyako-chan? I suggest you leave the fighting to the adults," Itachi stated and Miyako's eyes narrowed in a glare, before pulling her kunai back and aiming it towards Itachi. Itachi easily dodged her attack. Separating the two by a few metres.

"I'm a Jōnin now, Itachi-san. I'm more than capable of fighting you or your partner," Miyako replied before weaving some hand-signs and calling forth two shadow clones. They shot over to Asuma, who was still fighting Kisame. She then shot towards Itachi with Kurenai by her side. The two females aimed punches and kicks towards the elder Uchiha, who dodged their attacks with almost complete ease. Itachi then pulled out some shuriken and shot them towards the females. Miyako managed to dodge, but Kurenai got struck by three of the shuriken, all in her arms.

"As expected from you two. But..." Itachi started but was cut off by Kakashi, who had finally arrived at the battle.

"But the person it's over for, is you, Itachi."

"Hatake Kakashi," Itachi stated, his gaze meeting the gaze of the person behind him, as the shadow clone stood in front of Asuma, blocking him from Kisame after his jutsu that matched Kisame's died down.

"Impressive. So that's why he has the same jutsu as me," Kisame stated, looking at Kakashi-s Sharingan eye. "I never thought I'd see someone other than Itachi with those eyes. That said, you must be the Copy Ninja Kakashi."

"It appears that the suspicious people at the tea shop were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame," Kakashi stated, his gaze flickering over to Miyako for a split second, worried about her feelings getting in the way of what needs to be done.

"Well, well, you know my name. I'm honoured," Kisame stated with a wide grin.

"I see, you are one of Kirigakures' 'Seven Ninja Swordsmen'. You hold the Samahada, if I recall correctly," Kakashi stated and Miyako frowned, getting sick of all the talking going on around her. She wanted the battle to finish sooner rather than later.

"I heard Zabuza and you fought, and he lost. Now I guess it's my turn to have a shot at the great Hatake Kakashi," Kisame stated with a smirk.

"Kisame, stop messing around," Itachi stated with a glare to his teammate. "You will take too long if you fight with him. If you take too long, other shinobi will arrive. Don't forget our mission, Kisame. We didn't come here to get injured."

"What is this mission you speak of?" Miyako questioned with a frown, using her mind reading jutsu to try and hear their thoughts, but getting nothing from Itachi, and Kisame was too busy focusing on the enemies in front of him.

"We are looking for something," Itachi replied and Kakashi's dark-grey eyes narrowed.

"Looking for something? What are you looking for, exactly?" Kakashi questioned wearily as Itachi turned to face him properly.

"Unlike Kisame, I won't waste any time," Itachi stated and he attacked Kakashi. The water attack didn't last long, and soon it showed Itachi holding kunai in his hands. "Your insightful eyes is remarkable, Kakashi. Am I right? Itachi questioned and a clone was suddenly behind Kakashi, a kunai pressed into Kakashi's back.

"A shadow clone? His jutsu is incredibly fast," Kurenai gasped in shock as Miyako's eyes narrowed, secretly grabbing out a kunai from her holster.

_No, Miyako-san. This is between Itachi and I. Get Kurenai up to Asuma, and keep Kisame distracted,_ Kakashi ordered Miyako through her mind.

Miyako frowned, fritting her teeth as she put her kunai away, just as the Kakashi that had a kunai in his back disappeared in a burst of water, much like a bubble popping. Miyako grabbed Kurenai and shot up next to Asuma, just as Itachi's clone exploded. Kakashi was now in front of Miyako, Asuma, and Kurenai, dripping wet.

"_Don't_ let your guard down. Remember, he became an ANBU Captain at only thirteen," Kakashi reminded the trio.

"No need to remind me, Kakashi-san," Miyako replied, not taking her eyes off of Itachi. "Besides, we haven't seen he's real power yet."

"It's impressive that without any Uchiha blood you can use that eye to the extent that you can. But your blood isn't like ours, so that eye weakens you just as much as it helps you," Itachi stated and Kakashi frowned. Itachi closed his eyes. "Why is the Uchiha Clan known as the strongest clan? I'll let you experience the Sharingan to its full effect."

"Everyone, under no circumstance are you to open your eyes," Miyako ordered as she shut her eyes in a panic, Asuma and Kurenai following quickly as Kakashi closed his normal eye. "Listen, do _not_ open your eyes. If you do, it could be devastating."

"Most likely another Uchiha can counter this technique," Kakashi stated.

"That is correct. As long as one has the Sharingan, some resistance can be made to this Mangekyo Sharingan. However, this is a special eye jutsu, Genjutsu Tsukuyomi, only another Sharingan user with the same blood flowing in them could possibly defeat me," Itachi stated as Kakashi was pulled into the Genjutsu.

Only a second passed before he returned to the world of the waking. "Kakashi, are you alright? Can we open our eyes? What happened? While was talking, you collapsed," Asuma questioned frantically.

_I see, so while it felt like there days, it was only a second or so,_ Miyako heard Kakashi's thoughts whisper as flashback of the Genjutsu filled her mind, making her skin pale in shock as the images crossed her thoughts.

"It isn't over yet," Kakashi stated while panting.

"Hehe, that jutsu is used to break an opponent spirit. I'm surprised he's still alive," Kisame stated with a sharp grin. "However Itachi, you should be careful, since that eye is dangerous to you as well."

"Are you after Sasuke?" Kakashi questioned Itachi.

"We are after the Fourth Hokage's inheritance," Itachi replied simply.

"The Fourths... inheritance?" Kakashi questioned in slight confusion.

"What are they talking about?" Kurenai questioned in even more confusion as Miyako gasped in realisation as a stray thought crossed Kisame's mind.

"Is it the nine tails?" Miyako questioned and Kisame chuckled.

"She's smart, for a fifteen-year-old," Kisame stated and Itachi frowned at his words.

"I know that you two aren't the only ones," Kakashi stated. "You work for an organisation called the Akatsuki, am I correct?"

"Akatsuki?" Asuma questioned and Itachi frowned further.

"Kisame, take Kakashi and Miyako with us, kill the other two," Itachi ordered and Kisame smirked before charging towards the four Jōnin. Just as he was about to reach them, he was kicked out of the way by a man dressed in green and orange with a bowl haircut.

Might Guy has arrived.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

"_**Who **_are you?" Kisame questioned the newly arrived, strangely dressed man.

Miyako smirked as the green-clad man stood with one arm behind his back and the other in front of him, palm open and facing towards his body.

"Konohagakure's proud beast! Might Gai!" he announced proudly while Kisame smirked in amusement.

"What a funny outfit. Are you an _exotic_ beast?" Kisame questioned, humouring Gai.

"Don't take him lightly," Kisame and Miyako stated at the same time, startling the two of them. Miyako opened her eyes in surprise and met Itachi's gaze. He didn't make a move – though she was vulnerable against his Mangekyo Sharingan – and met her gaze steadily.

"Urgh!" Kakashi gasped out, collapsing on the water behind Gai. Miyako quickly moved to get him, making sure Gai's attention remained only on the two enemies.

"Gai! Don't make eyes contact with Itachi, or you will be affected by his Genjutsu," Asuma warned, eyes stilled closed as Miyako moved behind him and Kurenai with the weakened Kakashi.

"I already knew that," Gai replied simply, "to beat Kakashi, I used to train in order to fight against the Sharingan. Open your eyes, you two. When fighting with someone who possesses the Sharingan, just don't look in their eyes and it should be alright. Look at their feet and predict their movements from there," Gai explained.

Kurenai and Asuma both hesitated for a second before slowly opening their eyes and looking straight at Gai, keeping their gaze away from Itachi's.

"Gai-san, there's not enough time to teach them this method of fighting," Miyako warned and Gai nodded in agreement.

"I know. So that means you two will have to get used to this method of fighting as quickly as possible."

"So, what's your plan?" Asuma questioned Gai.

"Kurenai, Miyako-san, take Kakashi to the hospital. Asuma will stay here as my back up," Gai ordered. "We will hold them off until the ANBU arrive."

_Speaking off which, where are they?_ Asuma's stray thought crossed Miyako's mind and she couldn't help but agree. Were the ANBU really so slack at the moment?

"As you wish, Gai-san," Miyako replied as Kurenai took Kakashi off her and the two women left, leaving the men to battle.

Itachi frowned as he watched Miyako leave. "Kisame, forget about it. We are not here to fight a war, even though it's a shame to leave, but to stay here is meaningless. Let's go," Itachi ordered showing clearly who was in charge between the two teammates.

Kisame grunted in annoyance, having wanting to battle the two Jōnin but agreed with Itachi. The two missing-nin vanished, leaving Asuma and Gai alone on the river. The two looked at each other in surprise, before leaving the area, heading off after Miyako, Kurenai, and Kakashi.

**...**

"I'm going to find Jiraiya-sama and inform him of the events that have just transpired," Miyako stated simply.

All five Jōnin, including a passed out Kakashi, were in the hospital, discussing the events that had just transpired with the two missing-nin.

"That's probably for the best. He shouldn't have gotten too far. Especially with Naruto with him," Asuma agreed with a nod. Miyako nodded in agreement before leaving the room quickly, rushing through the village. She barely remember to sign out of the gates before she followed the faint chakra signature of Naruto and Jiraiya.

Miyako rushed through the forest at close-to-full speed, slowing down as she came to a town where she sensed both Itachi's and Kisame's thoughts. She cursed under her breath as she rushed in the direction they were, jumping through the window of the room Naruto was in and pulling the blonde back behind her, meeting her gaze with Itachi's surprised ones.

"Leave him alone," Miyako ordered with a fierce glare, hearing Kisame laugh.

"It's that purple haired girl from the bridge. Do you want me to get rid of her for you?" Kisame questioned, pulling out Samahada.

"No," Itachi replied blankly, all signs of surprise gone from his eyes, "Leave, Miyako-chan. I _don't_ want to fight you," Itachi stated, looking at the girl in her blue gaze.

_I'm serious, Miyako-chan. You _don't_ want to get caught up in this,_ Itachi's thoughts reached Miyako and she was surprised by the feelings of worry and care weaved into the thoughts.

"M-Miyako-san? W-who are they?" Naruto stuttered out in confusion.

"Naruto get out of here and find Jiraiya-sama," Miyako ordered, pulling out a kunai and preparing for a battle she knew she would lose.

"But–"

"It has been awhile, Sasuke," Itachi stated, and Miyako's eyes widened as she looked to the end of the hallway, where Sasuke stood, his fists clenched and Sharingan eyes blazing with sheer hatred for his older brother.

"Uchiha Itachi," Sasuke growled in fury, "I will _kill_ you!"

"Hmm? It seems today is a _very_ special day. This is the second time I've seen another Sharingan," Kisame stated in surprise at the turn of events.

"_What_ the hell are you doing here, Sasuke? Are you _nuts?_" Miyako snapped, but Sasuke paid no heed to Miyako's words, his anger and attention all on Itachi.

"You seem to be familiar with Itachi. Who is he, Itachi?" Kisame first stated to Sasuke, and then questioned Itachi.

"He is my younger brother," Itachi replied simply, as if it were common knowledge. And for three out of five in the room and hallway, it was.

"I heard the _entire_ Uchiha Clan was wiped out," Kisame stated with a frown, "by you."

Sasuke weaved some hand signs, forming the Chidori in his hand and charged at Itachi. Itachi easily dodged the attack. He grabbed Sasuke's wrist and snapped it, making Sasuke shout out in pain and kneel on the ground.

Naruto ran in front of Miyako and tried to summon a jutsu, only to be cut off by Kisame using Samahada to eat up Naruto's chakra. Naruto looked around in confusion at the sudden lack of jutsu and chakra as he was grabbed by Miyako and dragged behind her. She shot him an annoyed glare, making him gulp as he realised he now knew where Sakura learned how to glare like that.

"Naruto," Miyako snapped, catching his attention fully, "they're after you. _Go_ and find Jiraiya-sama!"

"But Sasuke..." Naruto trailed off as Miyako turned her back to him.

"Is _my_ responsibility," Miyako replied and shot forward, dodging Kisame's attack with ease and running towards Itachi and Sasuke.

She threw her kunai towards Itachi in the hopes of distracting him. He caught the weapon and threw it back at her. She swiftly dodge it and moved in-between Sasuke and Itachi, kicking Itachi back a few metres so she could protect Sasuke and, hopefully, stop him from doing anything else stupid.

"Sasuke, I told you to leave!" Miyako snapped in anger as the boy fell face first onto the ground in pain. She sighed, her gaze falling onto Itachi who stood calmly. "Haven't you two done enough? Leave!" Miyako ordered and Kisame snickered.

"We want the nine-tails, and we'll get him," Kisame stated and swung Samahada down towards a frozen Naruto, only to be blocked by a red and black toad.

"You don't seem to know very much about me," a new voice stated from behind Naruto. "I'm better at getting girls than they are at trying to get me. even though it doesn't look like it, it's my speciality."

"Jiraiya-sama!" Miyako shouted in relief, knowing that now they actually stood a chance against the two Akatsuki members.

"Oh yeah? That girl just winked at ya and you went scampering after her!" Naruto shouted in annoyance at the toad sannin's statement. "And now you're trying to look cool and classy – you pervy sannin!"

"Hey! Can't you stop calling me that in front of everyone?" Jiraiya snapped back.

"Screw that, you two! We have bigger problems than Jiraiya-sama's perviness," Miyako snapped in annoyance, glaring at the two and making them shut up.

"You... I've met you before, right? Haruno Miyako, correct? What are you doing here?" Jiraiya questioned in confusion and Miyako rolled her eyes.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke's guardian. I came to warn you of the threat, but they were already here when I got here," Miyako explained.

"Hehe, so it's one of the legendary sannin, Jiraiya," Kisame stated with a smirk. "You like beautiful women, but we weren't thinking that such a simple method could successfully stall you anyway."

"In any case, it seems you have already undone the Genjutsu binding the woman," Itachi stated and Jiraiya frowned as he placed the dark-haired woman that he was holding next to the wall.

"You guys wanted to draw me away, so you used the Sharingan to cast a Genjutsu on the woman, huh? Not a very manly way of doing things," Jiraiya stated. "So you really _are_ after Naruto."

Naruto's blue eyes widened in surprise at the statement. He looked around the room at everyone, his gaze landing on Miyako, looking for answers. She nodded in confirmation and his eyes widened in fear.

"No wonder Kakashi knew about this. You were the source of the information," Itachi stated bluntly. "'To abduct Naruto,' those were the orders given to us by the higher ups of our organisation, the Akatsuki." The toad vanished as this was said and Jiraiya's face turned serious.

"You won't get Naruto," Jiraiya stated as if it was common fact.

"And why not?" Itachi questioned.

"Because right now, right here, you two will die by my hands," Jiraiya answered.

"No! Don't do it!" Sasuke gasped, forcing himself to his feet. "This guy... IS MINE!"

There was a moment pause before Itachi sighed. "I have absolutely no interest in you right now." Then he kicked Sasuke, sending him into the wall.

Miyako and Naruto made to move but Sasuke stopped them. "Naruto, Miyako, I told you, don't! This fight is mine!" Sasuke snapped in anger. "Come on!"

Itachi punched Sasuke in the stomach, making Sasuke cough up blood. Itachi repeated the process until Sasuke fell face first into the ground at his feet. Itachi grabbed Sasuke and picked him up by the collar of his shirt, pushing him up against the wall before dragging him into Tsukiyomi.

"No!" Miyako shouted as Sasuke shouted in fear. She shot forward and kicked Itachi away from Sasuke, making the dazed boy hit the ground again.

Miyako pulled out a kunai and attacked Itachi. Itachi, still recovering from the use of his Mangekyo Sharingan for the second time that day, barely managed to dodge the swipe. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her against his chest, reaching behind her neck and knocking her out before she could react.

Itachi picked her up bridal style, turning to face a surprised Kisame, just as the hallway turned into the mouth of a toad. Itachi and Kisame ran forward, Itachi using Amaterasu to escape with Kisame. Miyako still in his arms.

**...**

"Why did you bring her?" Kisame questioned Itachi an hour later.

The two Akatsuki members were resting in a clearing in the forest. Miyako's wrists and ankles were tied together by rope and she was laying in-between the two. Itachi's gaze hadn't left her, more specifically, the necklace she still wore that he had given her all those years ago.

"Hn," Itachi grunted, after all, he himself wasn't entirely sure why he kidnapped her. He knew, now, that it would be best to just leave her there and keep travelling, but he wanted time with her after so many years apart.

He couldn't help but gaze down at her, admiring her long, purple hair and tanned skin. Or what he could see of it. His eyesight has gotten worse since that night, but he didn't care. It was all for a bigger plan. A plan he hoped to fulfill before he became completely blind in the near future.

"I'm going to go and scout the area. I'll be back soon," Kisame stated and got up, leaving Itachi in the clearing.

It was silent for a few minutes before a voice spoke out, startling the Uchiha. "Is it true?"

Itachi faced Miyako in surprise, questioning her question with his eyes alone.

"What I saw I your mind about the massacre," Miyako clarified. "Did Danzo order it? Like he and the elders did with my clan?"

Itachi frowned in mild annoyance. "You shouldn't be rifling through other people's minds. You won't like what you find."

Miyako pursed her lips. "It's as easy to me as breathing. I can't help it. Now, stop beating around the bush. Is it true? Did Danzo and the Elders order the massacre?"

Itachi gave one sharp nod and Miyako's eyes widened in shock and excitement. "I have to tell Sasuke and the new Hokage. You shouldn't be kicked out of the village for this!"

"You won't tell _anyone_, Miyako-chan. Its best to leave these things in the past," Itachi stated simply.

"Leave things in the past? You killed one of my best friends! You ruined Sasuke's childhood! I've been raising him as my own for the past five years! _Don't_ tell me we should leave this in the shadows of the past!" Miyako snapped.

"I didn't kill Hisoka," Itachi stated and Miyako's eyes widened in surprise. "Don't get me wrong, he's dead. But I had someone help me massacre the clan. He is another Uchiha, one who went rouge during the last war. Though he claims to be someone thought long dead, I don't trust him. He has someone working for him, a male who calls himself Ookami."

"I've met him. Ookami that is. He's been stalking me as of late," Miyako stated with a frown. "Do you know who he is?"

Itachi shook his head. "No. He's always wearing a mask, just like his master. You need to keep away from them, Miyako-chan. I don't know what they have planned, but I don't want you caught in the middle of it."

At that moment Kisame shot into the clearing, annoyance on his blue features. "Konoha-nin are on our trail. We need to get moving."

Itachi nodded and stood up.

"Are we taking the girl?" Kisame questioned eyeing Miyako wearily, wondering briefly what his partner and her had been talking about before his arrival.

"No. She will remain here. Hopefully her presence will distract the Konoha-nin from our trail long enough for us to get away," Itachi stated and the two missing-nins vanished, leaving Miyako with more questions than answers.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

_**It **_has been a week since Itachi and Miyako had had their conversation, and Miyako found herself questioning everything she ever knew about the Uchiha Massacre and the amount of Uchiha's left roaming the earth.

Miyako spent much of her time by Sasuke's side. Watching as he slept in his coma and waiting for Naruto and Jiraiya to return with the fifth Hokage. Whoever that may be. She hoped that whoever it was, that they knew what to do to heal Sasuke. Or at least knew someone who did.

"Oh Sasuke, I'm_ so_ sorry this happened to you," Miyako whispered as she pushed some of his hair to the side. She wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth, but she had promised Itachi she wouldn't. And she won't. Not without good reason at least.

The door the room opened slowly and Sakura entered nervously, looking at Sasuke and then at Miyako, a question in her green eyes. "How is he, Mi-chan?"

"Nothing has changed," Miyako replied as she stood up and let Sakura take he spot. "Any news from Naruto?"

Sakura shook her head as she sat down. She went to speak, but the door was slammed open and Naruto came barging in. Behind him Jiraiya followed, followed by a busty, blonde haired woman.

"Naruto. Jiariya-sama," Miyako greeted before turning to the woman who had just fixed Sasuke up as if it were nothing. "You must be Tsunade-sama. I'm assuming, our Fifth Hokage?" Miyako questioned and the woman turned to the teen, looking her up and down with her amber eyes.

"That is me. Who are you?"

"I'm Haruno Miyako, Hokage-sama. I am a Jōnin and Sasuke's carer. This is my cousin, Haruno Sakura. She is Naruto and Sasuke's teammate," Miyako explained and Tsunade nodded, satisfied with the prompt answer from the purple-haired teen.

"Good. Then come with me. I need help settling into my office," Tsunade ordered and Miyako nodded with a bow, following the woman out of the room and towards the Hokage building. Jiraiya followed the two females, a serious expression on his face.

Nothing was said between the trio until they arrived at the office. It was filled with boxes of paperwork, making Tsunade frown in a mixture of disgust and annoyance.

"I never liked paperwork. And here I am. Taking the job with the most amount of paperwork in the shinobi world," Tsunade stated with a sigh as she sat down on the chair behind the desk. Her golden-brown gaze then fell to Miyako after she was settled, a frown on her lips. "Now, Miyako-san. I do _not_ like being lied to. _Who_ are you?"

Miyako smiled slightly, happy that the Hokage could sense her lie easily. She went into a thorough explanation on who she was and what the previous Hokage had done about it. She didn't mind Jiraiya being there for the explanation, after all, if two out three sannin know about her, it's not fair for the third to be left out.

"Hmm, so I was right that time we met, Miyako-san. You _are_ a Shinjitsu," Jiraiya mused after the explanation, feeling vindicated that he was right, and Miyako nodded in agreement.

"I can why my predecessor kept _you_ hidden from everyone. Elders included. Thank you for being truthful with me, Miyako-san. You may leave," Tsunade stated and Miyako nodded, bowing before leaving the two sannin behind in the office.

**...**

Miyako was just arriving to the hospital when Kakashi appeared next to her. He seemed tensed, worried even. Miyako wanted to know why. So of course, she asked him and he sighed. "Naruto and Sasuke are fighting on the roof," he stated simply and Miyako's eyes widened.

Without thinking, she ran up the side of the hospital, Kakashi right beside her. They paused to assess the situation for a split second, watching as Sakura ran towards the two boys, each of whom had their strongest jutsu aimed at each other.

Kakashi and Miyako shot forward, Miyako grabbing her cousin and jumping away, and Kakashi grabbing the two boys, throwing them and their jutsu into nearby water towers. Sasuke's Chidori caused a large explosion and the front of the water tower was all but destroyed. Naruto's Rasengan – on the other hand – left only a small hole in the front.

"Sakura! Don't do something stupid like that again! You could've been seriously wounded! Or worse! Killed!" Miyako shouted at the thirteen-year-old girl.

"But Naruto and Sasuke..." Sakura trailed off with tears in her eyes as Miyako glared at her. Sakura hung her head in shame. "Sorry, Mi-chan. I'll be sure to think my actions through next time."

"There won't be a next time. Right, Sasuke? Naruto?" Kakashi questioned with a firm look at the two genin. Sasuke scoffed before jumping off the roof. Naruto – on the other hand – blushed at the look the two Jōnin were giving him and he nodded in acquisition.

"No, it won't," Naruto promised and Miyako nodded, turning back to Sakura.

"Come on, Sakura. Let's get you home," Miyako stated and Sakura nodded, waving goodbye to her teacher and teammate before following Miyako down the side of the hospital and towards Sakura's home.

Once they arrived, Mebuki invited Miyako to stay for dinner and Miyako happily accepted, enjoying the time she had with her family. They talked and laughed before Miyako headed home late that night. When Miyako arrived she sensed something was wrong and walked to Sasuke's room, where she saw him standing, the picture of his team face down.

"You're leaving," Miyako stated simply, making Sasuke jump in surprise at her seemingly sudden appearance.

"_Don't_ try to stop me," Sasuke warned her, turning to face her, glaring at her with his Sharingan eyes.

Miyako sighed before shaking her head, holding her hands up in defence. "You're going to Orochimaru. It was bound to happen sooner or later. But God forbid I let you go alone. I've got some things to finish up here. You go on ahead. I'll catch up."

Sasuke stared at Miyako in surprise, his Sharingan fading. "You know, leaving will make you a missing-nin."

"I promised myself after the massacre that I would look after you. I'm _not_ letting you go into the snakes lair without someone who cares for you. Now go. I'll be with you soon."

Sasuke hesitated before nodding, grabbing his bag and walking passed Miyako who sighed before walking to her room, packing the bare necessities before locking up hers and Sasuke's apartment. She walked through the streets as if nothing were wrong so as not to arouse suspicions before arriving at her destination.

She looked up at the building, taking a deep breath before climbing up to a window on the third floor, sliding it open from the outside and slipping in. Inside sat Takeo – working on some paperwork for the hospital. He looked tired, but when he heard her he spun around, kunai in his hand.

He relaxed when he saw who it was. Putting the kunai away on his weapon holder. "Are you going on a mission?" Takeo questioned softly, not wanting to wake up his father or younger sister who were in the rooms surrounding his. Miyako shook her head in answer. "Then why are you packed up?"

"Sasuke's running off to join the circus," Miyako replied dryly and Takeo raised an amused eyebrow.

"Now I'm sure that's not what you actually mean."

Miyako let out a dry laugh. "It may as well be. He's running off to train with Orochimaru. I'm going to follow after him to keep him as safe as possible. I want you to take care of Sakura for me, and to inform Lady Hokage of my plan. Wait until morning, and _don't_ tell anyone else," Miyako explained and Takeo's brown eyes widened in shock.

"Are you _sure_ about this, Mi-chan? You leaving will make you a missing- nin in the eye of _everybody._ Even Sakura, and Kizashi-san and Mebuki-san. Are you willing to do this for Sasuke? Someone who isn't even your own family?"

Miyako's blue eyes turned hard at those words. "Sasuke's as much a part of my family as Sakura, Mebuki-ba, and Kizashi-ji are. As much as _you_ are," Miyako snapped and Takeo's eyes widened at her harsh words. "Besides, I promised someone I would look after him. I'm _not_ going to break that promise. Hopefully, it won't be forever. I should return one day." She looked out the window to the dark sky. "Probably after Sasuke completes his goal of killing his brother."

"Are you sure he will be able to? If he and Itachi meet, he's going to die," Takeo warned.

Miyako's eyes filled with tears. "Itachi won't kill Sasuke. Not intentionally at least."

"And how would you know that?"

"Just trust me. _Please_ do what I ask. And don't hate me for anything I have to do in the future. I couldn't handle losing my best friend."

Takeo's almond shaped eyes teared up as he brought Miyako into a hug, Miyako returning it. "I promise. No matter what you do, I'll always be your best friend. Now, you get going before dawn hits. You don't want to be left behind."

Miyako pulled back after a minute and wiped her tears before nodding and making her face blank before disappearing from Takeo's view. She arrived in a clearing outside of Konoha's fence line where she saw the Sound Four and Sasuke waiting for her arrival. The four Oto-nin looked at Miyako with heavy distrust.

"I see you haven't left without me," Miyako stated and the grey haired Sakon and Ukon snorted.

"He wouldn't let us. Just know if trouble hits you better be able to hold your own. Orochimaru-sama won't be happy with this development," Sakon stated with a glare.

Miyako smirked. "Actually, I think Orochimaru would enjoy this development more than you would think. Shall we go? We'll need a head start after all."

"Don't order us around," Tayuya snapped with a glare, pushing some red hair out of her face.

"No. As much as I hate to agree with her, she's right. Sasuke, get into the carrier. Your transformation will happen in there," Ukon explained and Sasuke narrowed his onyx coloured eyes distrustfully before complying and getting into the basket, which was quickly sealed by the Sound Four. "Let's go."

**...**

Takeo took a deep breath before knocking on the Hokage's office door. When he was called in, he found Tsunade looking beyond stressed. Two hours ago Sasuke was reported missing by Sakura, shortly with the discovery that Miyako too was missing. A team had been dispatched to get them.

"Who are you?" Tsunade questioned with a tired sigh, eyeing the Jōnin medic-nin with a critical eye.

"I'm Fuchigami Takeo. I was Miyako's teammate, and I'm her best friend," Takeo stated and Tsunade sat up straighter, interest now burning in her eyes.

"Do you know why she left?"

Takeo nodded. "It's best if no one else hears this information." Tsunade nodded, sealing the room so no one else could hear what was being said. Takeo took a deep breath in before explaining the conversation that he had had with Miyako the night before.

Tsunade stared in surprise at the revelation. "Why would she go through such great lengths to look after Sasuke? What's her relationship with the Uchiha Clan?"

"Our third teammate was a Uchiha known as Hisoka. Him and Miyako were best friends growing up, long before the massacre. Did you notice that she wore a necklace?" Takeo questioned Tsunade who frowned but nodded, having noticed the expensive little gift that the Jōnin had worn when they met the day before. "_That_ little gift was given to her by Uchiha Itachi."

Tsunade's eyes widened at those words, shock running through her system. "She was close to Uchiha Itachi?"

Takeo nodded. "Close enough to regularly hang out, train, and give each other gifts. Hisoka told me he had a crush on Miyako, and I suspect Itachi had feelings for her as well."

"That doesn't explain why she's so hell-bent on looking after Sasuke," Tsunade pointed out.

"Miyako feels like its her responsibility to protect Hisoka's distant cousin... and Itachi's little brother _because_ of her relationship with the two Uchiha's," Takeo explained and Tsunade nodded, crossing her hands, and resting her chin on them.

"I see what you're saying. But it's still amazing to know of someone so loyal to someone that they'd go to such great lengths for them. Tell me, what is Miyako planning?"

Takeo shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure. But I'm fairly sure she plans on spying on Orochimaru from Konoha."

Tsunade froze at these words but quickly composed herself. "I understand. I won't send anyone after her then. If Sasuke isn't brought back then I will leave them be. Thank you for telling me all this, Takeo-san."

Takeo bowed his head. "Mi-chan told me to tell you this. I'm just doing my duty as a shinobi of Konohagakure and as best friends to the last Shinjitsu."

**(Ok, that's the end of Part II. The first chapter of Part III should be up within a week or two. I would like to thank everyone for the favourites/follows and review so far. It makes me so happy knowing so many people enjoy my story. I'm thinking of splitting this story into two separate books with Shippuden taking up its own book, but I want your opinion on if I should separate the two books or if I should combine them. See you all soon ^_^)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Part III**

"He's never gonna make it,

All the poor people he's forsaken.

Karma is always gonna chase him for his life,"

_Outrunning Karma, Alec Benjamin_

**Chapter Twenty One**

_**Miyako **_kept her face blank as she meet the golden gaze of Orochimaru. Her and Sasuke and just arrived. It's been one week since they left the village, and now they were face to face with Orochimaru. The only one to survive the trip. It had been harder to escape Konohagakure than the duo had anticipated, but they made it and Orochimaru sat there like a cat that ate the sparrow.

"Shinjitsu Miyako-chan, what a pleasant surprise," Orochimaru hissed out, a grin on his pale face. Next to him, Yakushi Kabuto stood, a neutral look on his face that only flicked for a split second at the mention of Miyako's clan name. "What brings you here?"

"Sasuke," Miyako replied, narrowing her blue eyes at the man and teen before her. "I made a promise to look after him, and I intend to keep it. Even if it means leaving my village."

Orochimaru's grin widened. "Well of course you're welcome here. Assuming that you are willing to work for me for as long as Sasuke-kun is here."

Miyako took a quick glance at Sasuke before nodding. Sasuke, who stood next to her, had looked at her nervously in that split-second glance, covering up his feelings. The look, however, didn't go unnoticed by Miyako, Orochimaru, and Kabuto.

"When does my training start?" Sasuke questioned, eager to start the training that will lead to brothers demise and the ultimate vengeance for his clan.

"Soon enough, young Sasuke-kun. For now, Kabuto will show you two to your rooms so you can settle in and rest up from your long trip," Orochimaru state. "Make sure they are put next to each other," Orochimaru added, looking at Kabuto, who nodded, silver hair falling in front of his black eyes.

"Follow me, Sasuke-kun. Miyako-chan," Kabuto stated and both Miyako and Sasuke frowned at the use of the honorifics but said nothing as they followed Kabuto out of the room and through the underground base. "This place is built like a maze. It makes it harder for intruders to get in or out. Be sure to memories the ways between your rooms, my room, Orochimaru-sama's room, the kitchen, and training rooms."

Kabuto explained more about the base the further along they went until the trio stopped in front of two identical, wooden doors. Kabuto gestured to a door opposite of the two doors, also wooden. "The bathroom. You two can choose which rooms you want out of these two. If you don't mind, I must return to Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto bowed before leaving and Miyako and Sasuke stayed silent until he was gone.

"I take the room on the left and you take the one on the right?" Miyako suggested and Sasuke nodded with a grunt, before he walked to the door and opened it, peering into the room.

Miyako looked into the room as well and saw a room with only a bed, a bedside table, a chest of drawers, and a bookshelf. Sasuke wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was glad that the older teen was here with him. Even if it were to keep an eye on him for unknown reasons.

Miyako went into her room and found it identical to Sasuke's.. She shut the door and put her bag on her new bed. She contemplated if it was worth unpacking but decided to and put her clothes in the chest of drawers, and the picture of her team on the bedside table. She shoved her bag under the bed before lying down, surprised to find that the bed was comfortable. She closed her eyes and let sleep take her.

**...**

Orochimaru was still grinning when Kabuto returned, making Kabuto frown. "Do you trust her?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Not one bit. But it's obvious she's here to keep an eye out for Sasuke, as such, we should use her to our advantage while she's here. Who knows, she may end up being an even better investment than Sasuke."

Kabuto frowned at his masters words. He didn't like the idea of having Sasuke around, let alone Miyako. He wanted to have the attention of Orochimaru all to himself. He despised the idea of having other people to contend with then it comes to Orochimaru's attention. After all, Orochimaru will teach more of his secrets to his favourite, and Kabuto wanted that to be him. He had plans, and there was no way that two _children_ would get in the way of those plans. He'll make sure of it.

**...**

The next day Miyako made her way to Sasuke's room. She knocked on the door and waited for Sasuke to open it. Soon Sasuke opened the door to reveal himself dressed for the day. He gestured for Miyako to enter and she did, noting that he hadn't added anything of interest to his room. Not even a picture of his team.

Miyako didn't comment on that little detail, but instead turned to face Sasuke, who stood by the now closed door, a frown on his face. "You know, training with Orochimaru won't be easy. I want you to be careful. Don't overwork yourself. It won't make you stronger if you do that," Miyako stated.

"Hn," Sasuke replied, accepting Miyako's words of wisdom. She was, after all, the only one he trusted in the world at the moment.

Miyako nodded just as there was a knock on the door. She walked over to the door, Sasuke stepping out her way, and opened it to reveal Kabuto. He frowned when noticed that both Sasuke and Miyako were in the same room, concerned that they were plotting against him and his master.

"Orochimaru-sama told me to show you two to the kitchen. He assumed that at least on of you could cook for yourselves," Kabuto stated and turned his back on the pair, heading down the hallway and not looking back to see if they were following him.

Miyako and Sasuke shared a quick look before quickly following Kabuto through the winding halls to a well-stocked, state-of-the-art kitchen. It was another thing Miyako was surprised about, but she said nothing, the only indication of her surprise was the slight widening of her eyes.

"I'll be back in two or so hours. Cook whatever you want," Kabuto stated and left, leaving Sasuke and Miyako alone once again.

"What do you think, Sasuke? Grilled fish, rice, miso soup, and an omelette for breakfast?" Miyako questioned as she started looking through the kitchen for everything she needs.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted with a nod, agreeing to her choice of breakfast. He would've preferred tomatoes and rice, but this would do.

"Good. You can help me by preparing the omelettes. Ok?" Miyako questioned and Sasuke nodded and started his job as Miyako prepared everything else.

An hour later and Sasuke and Miyako had just started eating when a girl with pink hair and silver eyes walked into the kitchen. Sasuke and Miyako paused I their eating to look at the girl, who looked at them in turn, lips pursed. It was silent for a few second before the girl grinned.

"I'm Hana. You two must be the new arrivals Kabuto has been complaining about," the girl stated and Miyako nodded.

"I'm Shinjitsu Miyako. This is Uchiha Sasuke," Miyako replied and Hana's eyes widened in surprise.

"A Shinjitsu _and_ an Uchiha? The last of each clan I suspect. I'm a nobody. No clan name for me. But thanks to Orochimaru-sama's experiments I can breathe underwater," Hana explained like it was nothing.

"You _willingly _let Orochimaru experiment on you?" Miyako questioned in surprise and disgust.

Hana shrugged nonchalantly. "Didn't have much choice. I decided to go along with it. It made my life easier in the end." Her gaze flitted over to Sasuke. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, making Hana grin.

"I see. What's that you have for breakfast?" Hana looked over their meal, making Miyako frown at the forwardness of the girl. "That's a lot. I couldn't eat the fish though. Hate fish. And tofu. Anyway, I'll let you two go back to eating. Nice meeting you." With that said, Hana made her way further into the kitchen and grabbed a tub of yogurt before leaving the room all together, making Sasuke and Miyako relax just slightly.

**...**

An hour later and Kabuto returned, leading the two ex-Konoha-nin through the tunnels and into a large, open room. "This is one of the training rooms in the base. Orochimaru-sama will be here soon. You may take the time to warm up. Got it? Good. I'm leaving." Kabuto walked out of the room, making Miyako grin.

"I have the feeling Kabuto-san doesn't like us," Miyako stated and Sasuke shrugged. He could care less of the four-eyed man liked him or not. He was here for one reason and one reason only, to become strong enough to kill his brother.

Sasuke moved to the centre of the room and started to do some light stretched. Though she wasn't getting trained by Orochimaru, Miyako joined in, giving Sasuke some pointed on how to make each stretch more effective. After a few minutes of that, the two went about doing some push-ups, sit-ups, and running around the room for cardio. Just as they were on their tenth minute of running, Orochimaru entered the room and cleared his throat.

"I see you are warming up too, Miyako-chan."

Miyako stopped what she was doing and turned to face Orochimaru. "I figured I should get some training in as well as Sasuke. Even if its not under your tutelage. I would like to stay at the top of my game."

Orochimaru chuckled, a sound that sent shivers up both Miyako's and Sasuke's spine, as Kabuto walked in the room. He had an annoyed look across his features as he was followed by Hana, who was grinning from ear to ear. Orochimaru gestured to the two. "I want to test both of you, to see what I have to work with. Who wants to go first?"

"Oh can I? I want to fight Sasuke-kun!" Hana announced in excitement, jumping up and down on the spot. "_Please _Orochimaru-sama? Pretty please with a sake on top?"

Orochimaru laughed. "Of course my dear Hana. Sasuke, go to the centre of the room and you two may begin your duel. You can use any weapon, jutsu, or technique you want. I want to see the full extent of your skills. Miyako-chan, will you please join Kabuto-kun and I over here? The last thing I want is for you to be in their way."

Miyako nodded stiffly and walked to stand beside the two men as Hana made he way to standing on the opposite side of the training room to Sasuke the three watched as the girl grinned before shooting forward. Sasuke dodged the attack without much difficulty and aimed a kick to the girls waist. She dodged his attack easily and the battle fully commenced.

Hana kept attacking Sasuke, and Sasuke kept counter-attacking Hana. Soon jutsu were flying everywhere, and Sasuke was using his Sharingan in the hopes of gaining an advantage against the young girl. It was half-an-hour later when Hana managed to knock Sasuke to the ground, pinning him with a kunai to his neck.

Orochimaru clapped in excitement. "Not bad, Sasuke-kun. Not bad at all. But we need to teach you how to use the curse mark and maybe another weapon. A katana perhaps? Hana, get off him. Kabuto-kun, you and Miyako-chan may now spar. Chop, chop. I have experiment to attend to after all."

Miyako frowned at this, but stood on the opposite end of the room, activating her kekkei genkai in the hopes it will give her an advantage against Kabuto. What she heard in his mind made her grin. He felt threatened by her and Sasuke's presence. She even heard glimpse of his plan for Orochimaru. If she told Orochimaru of this plan, she'd gain his favour. But she didn't want his favour. She was here for one reason and one reason only, and that was to protect Sasuke.

Miyako shot forward, surprising Kabuto. She pulled out a kunai and threw it, directing it at his heart. Kabuto easily dodged and charged at Miyako, his chakra scalpel burning on his palm. Miyako knew from training with Takeo what that jutsu was capable of, so she kept dodging his movements. This was made easier because she was reading his mind. She could see Kabuto getting more and more frustrated as his attacks didn't land, and he was starting to get sloppy. Soon, he made a fatal error, on that led Miyako pinning him to the ground, a senbon through his neck. Kabuto was knocked out.

Orochimaru cackled at this. "My, oh my, you _are_ skilled young Miyako-chan. I can see why Itachi cared for you."

Miyako growled, yanking the senbon from Kabuto's neck and standing up to face the golden eyed man. "What do _you_ know about my relationship with Itachi?"

"I know enough to know that he keeps a picture of you on his person at all times," Orochimaru stated, making Sasuke's onyx eyes widen in surprise as he looked between the two. "Tell me, Miyako-chan, is the promise you made to look after Sasuke given to his brother on the night of the massacre? Or was it when you were recently kidnapped by him and Hoshigaki Kisame?"

"Neither. The promise was made to myself on the night of the massacre, to honour my best friend Uchiha Hisoka," Miyako replied with a blank face, noting Sasuke was getting angrier and angrier at the mention his brother and the massacre. "Come on Sasuke, I think we're done here for the day. Let's leave Orochimaru-sama to his experiments."


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-two**

_**The **_following weeks were spent with Sasuke training with Orochimaru, Hana, and Kabuto, and Miyako spending her time watching the training sessions, joining in from time to time at the request of Orochimaru. She had recently read Orochimaru's mind and discovered that he trusted her about as far as he could throw the Hokage monument. In other words, he doesn't trust her. But that was fine with Miyako, she didn't need his trust. She just needed to stay in order to protect Sasuke.

Of course, Miyako's hovering was starting to get on Sasuke's nerves. They had been gone a month, and Miyako rarely left Sasuke's side. She watched over him as if he were a noble prince in need of protecting. Of course, he _was_ technically the head of his clan, but he too was a shinobi. He didn't need protecting. Even if it's from Orochimaru.

At the moment, Miyako was resting against the wall of the training room. Sasuke was standing in the centre, covered in sweat. He was standing in front of Orochimaru who was explaining the importance of speed in battle. For the last two hours, Sasuke had been running the length of the room, going fasted and faster at the order of Orochimaru.

Miyako, who had been in the room the whole time, had just been joining Sasuke in his training, only, unlike him, she wasn't sweating all that bad. This training was child's play compared on what she used to do on a daily basis.

"Miyako-chan," Orochimaru said, walking up to her. "I need you to do something for me."

"What can I help you with, Orochimaru-sama?" Miyako replied, standing up straight from her slouching position.

"I need you to go into the nearby village. You see, we are running low on food, and I need someone who isn't known by the villagers to get it for me. I'll give you the money, of course," Orochimaru explained and Miyako frowned.

"Isn't that usually Hana's job?"

"Yes. But she is currently on a mission in the Land of Rice Paddies. So can you? It will be such a big help to me," Orochimaru stated, holding out a fairly large bag of money.

Miyako sighed and grabbed it off him, walking towards the exit of the training room they were currently using.

"Oh, and Miyako-chan, do buy yourself some new clothes. Those ones are starting to get worn," Orochimaru added and Miyako nodded, leaving the room and the base and to the village two hours away.

**...**

Miyako was just finished up in the village, her shopping sealed away in scroll when she felt a familiar chakra, and the pushing of a familiar voice on her thoughts. Miyako made her way into a nearby dango shop and sat down, ordering some and a cup of green tea. A few minutes later, after the dango and tea arrived, someone sat across from her.

"I heard you left the village," the male voice stated and Miyako looked up from her tea into the onyx eyes of Sasuke's older brother.

"I promised you I would look after Sasuke. I'm keeping that promise," Miyako replied simply, taking a bite of her dango.

"I didn't think you'd follow him to Orochimaru," Itachi replied as he too ordered some dango and green tea. "But I'm happy that you're keeping your promise to me. even if I don't deserve it."

Miyako didn't respond to his statement, instead, watching the young woman place Itachi's order in front of him. The woman blushed when she met Itachi's onyx gaze, before running off to take of some other customers.

"Tell me, have you been hanging around here waiting for me?" Miyako questioned in curiosity as Itachi nodded.

"I know about the nearby base. I came hoping to get a hold of you to convince you to give me regular updates on how my brother is progressing. Do you think you can do it?"

"I have summonings, you know. It won't be a problem. As long as you promise me one thing," Miyako stated and Itachi leant forward, awaiting her next words. "You keep in contact with me. tell me how you're doing, and all that stuff. I want to make sure _you're _okay as well. I care about you. I always have. Ever since we met all those years ago. Besides, you're the last thing connecting me to Hisoka."

Itachi took a bite of his dango as he thought Miyako's words through. He knew that she cared for him. He cared for her as well. In fact, he dare say he loved her. If things hadn't gone the way they did in Konohagakure, he had wanted to marry her. Though at the time, he had to contend with Hisoka, and, to this day, he's not sure on who would've won her heart between the two of them.

"I will," Itachi replied as Miyako finished the last of her tea. She placed some money on the table and nodded, standing up and leaving Itachi alone in the shop, thinking about what could have been.

**...**

"Did you enjoy your chat with Itachi-kun?" Orochimaru questioned Miyako upon her entry into the base.

"I see you were aware he was hanging around," Miyako replied, meeting Orochimaru's gaze head on.

The man let out a chuckle, followed by a smirk. "Of course. I have people all around here keeping an eye out for me of any threats. You could imagine my surprise when I found out Uchiha Itachi had been hanging around for the last week, as if waiting for something. Or some_one_. What did you two chat about? Sharing my secrets with the enemy, Miyako-_chan_?"

Miyako smirked. "How can I share you secrets if I don't know them? No. He wanted to know about how his brother is doing."

Orochimaru hummed, kicking off the wall he had been leaning against. "I see. I take you know the truth about the massacre? I wonder what Sasuke-kun would do if he found out?"

Miyako's smirk faded, and her blue gaze turned to ice. "He _won't_ find out. You and I both know that he would destroy all those involved if he were to find out. And I suspect you don't want that. Not yet anyway."

Orochimaru chuckled as he walked past her. "You'd be surprised on what I want, Miyako-chan."

Miyako watched as he slithered away, wondering what, exactly, he meant by that, but not wanting to risk him sensing her in his mind. That happened once, and the fall out had resulted in consequences against Sasuke. Orochimaru was smart. He knew that she wouldn't care what he did to her. So whenever she did something he didn't like, he took it out on Sasuke. Miyako hated the fact Orochimaru had such a hold over her, but she would endure it. For Sasuke's sake.

**...**

Sasuke frowned, having overheard the conversation between Miyako and the snake sannin. What was the truth they were speaking of? He already knew it all. Didn't he? Itachi massacred the entire clan in cold blood. No survivors but him and his brother. Sasuke didn't understand what Orochimaru and Miyako were going on about.

What he did understand though, was that his brother was currently in the nearby village. Without so much as a logical thought, Sasuke made he's way out of the base and the two hours walk to the village. When he arrived he searched everywhere for his brother, only to not find hide nor hair of the elusive elder Uchiha. Sasuke frowned, and leant against a nearby building, glaring off into nothing.

A few minutes passed and a shadow fell over him. He looked up and was surprised to see the unamused face of Miyako looking at him.

"Look for Itachi, Sasuke?"

"I wouldn't _have_ to look for him I you me where he was," Sasuke replied, standing up straight to meet Miyako's gaze.

Miyako pursued her lips. "Last I saw him, he was having tea and eating dango at the dango joint down the road. But I doubt he's still there. Or even here in the village. And besides, you're not ready to face him. Not yet. Have patience. You will get you revenge. In time."

"What is the truth of the massacre? I heard you and Orochimaru talking about it. Tell me, Miyako. Now," Sasuke ordered and Miyako glared at him in way reminiscent of that of a Uchiha.

"You shouldn't eavesdrop on others conversations, Sasuke. Besides, you already know the truth o the massacre. There is nothing more to know. Itachi massacred your clan in cold blood. No more, no less. Now come on back to the base. We're having tomato, rice, and beef for dinner tonight. Unfortunately, Orochimaru and Kabuto have decided to join us. So I have to cook for the two snakes as well."

Sasuke frowned, knowing that he wasn't getting the full truth out of Miyako, but decided against arguing and followed her back to the base. He decided to help her make dinner by chopping up the tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, and carrot as Miyako cooked the beef and the rice. An hour later, everything was ready and Orochimaru and Kabuto were sitting at the table.

Miyako placed each plate down in front of them and sat down across from Orochimaru as Sasuke sat across from Kabuto. They all started eating, and for a time nothing was said. Until, that is, Orochimaru opened his fat mouth.

"Tell me, Sasuke-kun, did you find your brother?" Orochimaru questioned. Sasuke's grip on his chopstick tightened. "Yes, I know you left the base. Kabuto told me after Miyako left to follow you. I should've known you would be close enough to her mine and Miyako's conversation."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and Orochimaru chuckled darkly.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then," Orochimaru stated before frowning, leaning forward slightly. "Now listen to me, Sasuke-kun. If you _ever_ leave the base without my say so again, I'll lock you in your room when you're not training. Understood? That goes for you as well, Miyako-chan."

Miyako frowned, realising that this would make it harder to get her letters to Itachi. "As you wish, Orochimaru-sama."

Sasuke's fist clenched. He wanted nothing more than smash the snake sannins' and subordinates faces in but nodded. He knew he wouldn't win. Even with Miyako on his side.

Orochimaru, having finished his meal and pleased with their responses, got up and left, followed eagerly by a smug looking Kabuto. They waited until the duo were out of earshot before relaxing.

"Looks like we're now practically prisoners here, Sasuke," Miyako stated with a sigh as she started to grab the empty plates and wash them in the sink. Sasuke said nothing as he stood up and left the room, not even thanking her for dinner.

**...**

That night, Miyako sat on the desk in her room, pen meeting paper at a rapid pace as she quickly wrote about the events that transpired that day. It was a letter. A letter that will be sent to Itachi as soon as she could send it. She promised him she'd write to him about Sasuke, and she intended to keep the promise. Even if it makes Orochimaru even more suspicious of her.

Though, if she were to admit to herself, she was fairly sure she knows that Orochimaru knows that she's on Itachi's side. He also probably knew that she could ultimately care less for Orochimaru and his plans. But, because of this, she needed to make as little wrong moves as possible. Even at the cost of her own pride and, maybe, her dignity.

Miyako sat back and stretched out her arms, looking over the letter with care, seeing if she forgot anything, or spelled something wrong. She had always been like that. A grammar and spelling nut, but she didn't mind. So what if she took pride in her work? So what if she had a habit of correcting other people, oftentimes when they don't want to be corrected? That was her and she was proud of it.

When she was sure everything was up to her standard, she grabbed an envelope and placed the letter in it. She sealed the envelope and placed it in her new jacket, which she had brought that day when she went to the village. It seems almost like a lifetime ago that she was in the village shopping and having tea and dango with Itachi. But, it was only a mere eight hours ago.

Miyako smiled slightly before blowing out the candle that made up the only light in her room and settling into bed. She would send the letter to Itachi tomorrow.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

_Itachi, _

_It has been three months since we met in that dango shop. Sasuke is doing well. As well as he can be considering he is now under the tutelage of Orochimaru. He trains himself to exhaustion almost every day. Even Orochimaru has gotten concerned over Sasuke's health and has ordered Sasuke to take two days off each week._

_I know Orochimaru only cares about Sasuke because he wants to use him for his next body, but I can't help but to feel almost grateful to him for making sure Sasuke remains healthy. Speaking of which, thanks to the vigorous training I had to change Sasuke's diet. Orochimaru has left me in charge of making sure Sasuke gets fed three square meals a day. And its now not uncommon for him, Kabuto, and a girl by the name of Hana to join us for dinner._

_Yes, I've become something akin to a chef for the bases residents. But I don't mind. It give me something to do outside of training and keeping a close eye on Sasuke and Orochimaru._

_Anyway, that is all I have to tell you at the moment. Reply soon,_

_Miyako._

**...**

_**Miyako, **_

_**I'm sorry for the late reply, but the Akatsuki have been doing lots of bounty hunts as of late to finance their mission. It pleases me to know that you are sticking by your word and looking after my brother. but I am concerned about him training himself to exhaustion. **_

_**I must agree, I am happy that even Orochimaru is concerned for Sasuke's health – even if it is for selfish reasons. I can't judge. After all, I too am using Sasuke for selfish reasons.**_

_**I'm also glad that you are keeping yourself busy whilst stuck in that place. Even if it is cooking for the enemy and his subordinates. Tell me, what do you feed Sasuke on a daily basis? I know, knowing you, he would have a well-rounded diet, but I want him at the peak of his abilities when it finally comes time for him to face me.**_

_**Itachi.**_

**...**

_Itachi,_

_I don't mind the later reply. I'm only glad you kept to your word and replied to me. It's so lonely here, rarely leaving the base and only really having Sasuke to talk to. Not that he talks all that much. I miss my senseis and Takeo deeply, and I think even Sasuke is missing his team, though I know he wouldn't admit it, even if he were on his death bed._

_You are right, of course. I have been giving Sasuke a well-balanced diet. It includes grilled fish, rice, miso soup, and an egg for breakfast. Rice, grilled chicken, tomato and spring onion for lunch. And a variation of grilled meat (pork, lamb, or beef) with a variety of noodles and vegetable for dinner.. I always make sure that Sasuke has at least one up of green tea at each meal, and that he has at least two litres worth of water throughout the day._

_Orochimaru – who seems to have gotten sick of my 'laziness' – has ordered Kabuto to teach me basic medical-ninjutsu and how to create and cure poison. Though I'm interested in the latter, I could care less about medical-ninjutsu. My chakra control has never been perfect – as you well know – and it reflects in my work when I try to heal even the most basic of wounds. It's been frustrating Kabuto, which make me smile. I love annoying that stuck-up idiot._

_As for Sasuke, he's been getting stronger and faster ass the days go on. He can hold his own with Hana now, something he had trouble with a few short months ago. Though he's still got a long way to go before he's ready to face you, he's not anyone to scoff at. I think, I were to rank him, he'd be a chūnin. _

_Anyway, how have you been? Still bounty hunting for your 'leader'? what about your eyes? Orochimaru told me what happens when the Mangekyo Sharingan gets overused. Knowing you, you are probably almost completely blind by now. And don't even try to deny it. I know you too well for you to even attempt at denying it. After all, its much like how I get server headaches if I overuse my Truth Sight._

_Miyako._

**...**

_**Miyako,**_

_**I don't know how Orochimaru learnt about my eye condition, but he is – unfortunately – correct. The overuse has caused me to start developing blindness. And while there is a way to stop it, I have no intentions of doing so.**_

_**Yes, we are still bounty hunting for our leader, and we will be for a while yet whilst he prepares for the next stage of the plan. The plan has something to do with the collection of all tailed-beasts, but I don't know what he plans on using them for.**_

_**I'm impressed with the diet you have Sasuke on. You've always been good with food and nutrition. I remember when you packed bento's for me when I went on missions. I'm not afraid to admit it, but I'm jealous of Sasuke. He gets to eat your food every day, and so does that snake and his subordinates. **_

_**I actually know some medical ninjutsu. Most ANBU know the bare basics of it, just enough to identify poisons and to heal small cut and other small wounds. It would be a good way for you to increase your chakra control. I suggest you preserver with it. Who knows, one day that knowledge could be the difference between your death and your life.**_

**...**

_**Itachi.**_

**Itachi, Miyako has gone missing. She went out to town for supplies a day ago and hasn't returned. There was a battle half-way between the base and the town, but she is nowhere to be seen. I suggest you and find her.**

**Orochimaru. **

**...**

Miyako groaned as she woke up to a damp, cold, and draft filled room. She was chained to a wall by her wrist and she was sore all over. There were many cuts and bruises covering her body, and her clothes were all but destroyed. She didn't have time, however, to care about her lack of clothing. She had to get out of the prison, and she had no idea how she was going to do that, as low on chakra as she was.

The wooden door in front of her opened to reveal the wolf-masked Ookami. He was followed into the room by another male, this one wearing an orange swirly mask with only one eye hole. She stiffened. She remembered when the two had ambushed her on the way to the village near the base. She remembered phasing straight through the orange masked man and remembered being bound by chain by Ookami as her strength waned in the hour-long fight. Two against one rarely turned out well for the one fighting alone.

"You're finally awake," Ookami stated, his voice calm but with a hint of fondness in it that Miyako easily picked up on.

Miyako groaned, her head throbbing after having used her mind reading abilities in the fight. "How long have I been out for?" Miyako questioned, blinking at the two men as her eyes adjusted to the light streaming in from the hallway.

"A few days," the orange masked man stated as he flipped a switch and the light overhead turned on. He walked up to her and knelt down, grabbing her chin to make her look in his eye. She noticed quickly that it was red with the Sharingan.

Miyako's blue eyes widened as she connected the dots on what Itachi had told her almost nine months ago. "You're the other Uchiha that's alive," she stated simply.

"Hmm?" the man questioned, letting go of her chin and standing back up. "And how, do you know about that?"

"She's been conversing with Itachi. Even after what's happened she's loyal to him. I suspect she even knows the truth of the massacre," Ookami stated simply. "Am I right, Miyako-chan?"

Miyako pursed her lips but didn't deny the fact. "Who are you?" she questioned, her gaze falling to the other, unknown man.

"You can call me Tobi," the man replied simply, "Tell me, are you still loyal to Konohagakure? Even after what they did to Itachi's clan? After what they did to _your_ clan?"

"Of course I'm loyal to them. The acts of a few does not out-way the innocence of the many. Only the council caused mine and the Uchiha clans death. If I had it my way, the council would be destroyed and replaced by now," Miyako replied truthfully, and she could practically see the smirk flittering across Tobi's lips, even though he was wearing a mask and she had no idea what he looked like.

"Interesting stand-point," he stated before turning his back on the girl and heading towards the door. "Her strength is appropriate. She should be strong enough to do what I need her to do. I suggest you give her a rundown on our plan... Hisoka-kun."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four**

_**Itachi**_ stared at the letter that had just arrived, surprised at first the Orochimaru knew about the letter between himself and Miyako. But his surprise quickly vanished as he read the letter and learn that Miyako was missing. Possibly – most likely – kidnapped.

Hoshigaki Kisame – who sat not even five metres away – watched as his partner in crime's (quite literally) face turned into a mixture of anger and fear. He watched as Itachi stood up, making him wonder what was written in that letter that had his teammate so worked up.

"Itachi?" Kisame questioned as Itachi started to pack up his belongings without even a glance at his teammate. Kisame's beady black eyes shot to the edge of the clearing as he sensed someone chakra. He watched as the wolf-masked Ookami appeared, frowning at the appearance of – what he was sure was – a teenager. "What are you doing here, Ookami?"

Itachi's gaze flittered straight to the masked teen. Unlike Kisame, Itachi knew who lay behind the wolf-mask and something in his gut told him that Ookami was the reason for Miyako's disappearance.

"I take it you are aware of Miyako-chan going missing, Itachi," Ookami stated and Itachi stiffened.

"If you have anything to do with it..." Itachi warned and Ookami chuckled.

"So what if I did? What are you doing to do about it?" Ookami questioned and threw a scroll at Itachi, who caught and read over the scroll and its contents in a matter of seconds. His eyes widened at what was written. The _orders_ that were written. "You have one week to complete this task. If you don't... well, you know what Tobi and I have planned for Miyako." Ookami then vanished from view, making Itachi clench the scroll in his pale hands. For the first time since the coup d'état and the massacre he felt helpless.

"Itachi, what's going on?" Kisame questioned, finally standing up from his position on the ground, worry hidden deep in his eyes.

"Head back to the nearest base. I'm going to finish this... _mission,_" he spat the word out, "as quickly as possible." Itachi ordered Kisame before disappearing from the clearing, leaving a confused Kisame behind who decided to respect itachi's orders and started heading to the nearest base.

...

Miyako was confused and depressed to say the least. The boy she had loved, her best friend, the one she thought _dead_ was not dead. He had survived the massacre and was working with a madman who wanted to control the entire ninja world. But what was worse was what they were going to make Itachi do. Something so horrible she couldn't help but fill sick to her stomach. And they were using her too, just to get him to cooperate.

It had been a little over an hour since Hisoka had told hear the plan and left he in her thoughts, when the door leading into the room opened and he entered. His wolf mask was hanging of his belt and he held tray on which sat some rice and curry and a glass of water. He knelt down and placed the tray on the floor before turning around and shutting the door, locking it as he went.

"I'm going to unlock the chains from you so you can eat, Mi-chan," Hisoka stated as he came near her.

He opened the chains and Miyako lowered her arms, rubbing her wrists to relieve the pressure that had built up over time. She glared at Hisoka as he moved backwards, giving the sixteen-year-old some room so she could eat. Watching her as she grabbed the tray of food and started eating, never taking her gaze of his as he leant against the door. He was prepared to defend himself if she made a move.

"If you keep glaring, your face will get stuck like that," Hisoka stated with a weary smile, trying to break the tension as Miyako's glare hardened, not appreciating the joke. "Your glare is almost better than a Uchiha's. Tell me, did Sasuke or Itachi teach you that?"

Once again, Miyako didn't reply as she finished her food. She took a few slow sips of her water, watching Hisoka. She was furious with what had happened. Being kidnapped and being used as a pawn in his and his teachers game. Though, and she had to admit this to herself, she was relieved he wasn't dead. She couldn't help but feel the happiness well up inside her chest at the thought that her best friend and old crush wasn't killed that horrid night.

"Aren't you going to say anything, Mi-chan? You haven't spoken since I revealed myself to you," Hisoka questioned, tilting his head to the side, his long, chest-length hair that was tied up in a low pony-tail – much like Itachi's – moving over his shoulder.

"What would you have me say?" Miyako questioned as she finished her water and picked up her porcelain chopsticks, spinning them around in her fingers. "'Hi-kun, I'm so glad you're not dead?'"

Hisoka let out a smile. "Yes, something along those lines should do."

Miyako scoffed and then charged at Hisoka, chopsticks raised and pointed right at his eyes. He easily dodged the attack and she spun around, moving to kick him in the gut. He caught her foot and flipped her over his should, making her land on the ratty mattress that was situated in the room.

"Honestly? I would've thought you'd do better than that," Hisoka stated with a sigh as he picked up the chopsticks that had fallen to the floor and shoved them in his pockets. "Though I must admit, a highly creative use for chopsticks. Only you would think to use them as a weapon."

Miyako huffed as she got off the worn mattress, once again glaring at the eighteen-year-old in front of her. She knew that she had blown her chance to overtake him and escape, but she also knew she'd try again later. When he least expects it. That's assuming, of course, that that time actually does arrive.

Hisoka frowned, almost looking hurt. "Come on, Mi-chan. Nothing has changed. It's still _me."_

"No. things _have_ changed, Hisoka-_san_," Miyako stated, making Hisoka flinch at the use of the honorific that she hadn't used on him since they first met all those years ago. She was practically designating him as an acquaintance at best, a stranger at worse. "You _died,_ Hisoka-san. Or at least, everyone thought you had died. Takeo, Gina, Tsuneo-sensei, and even _Sasuke_ mourned your death. Yet, all this time you were here. With the _enemy._"

A sad look crossed Hisoka's face. "How are they anyway?"

Miyako's face went blank as she considered not telling him. But the look in his gaze made her crack. Just a little bit. "Takeo is a Jōnin who is very good at medical ninjutsu. Tsuneo-sensei is married to Adachi Aya. She was my other sensei if you remember. And Gina..." a sad look crossed her features as Miyako realised she hadn't had the proper time to mourn her first friends death. "She died in the attack by Otogakure and Sunagakure. So yeah, that happened." She glared at Hisoka, her anger and sorrow directed at him. "But _you_ wouldn't know about that, would you? You know why? Because you weren't there! I missed you like hell, Hisoka-san! But now? Looking at you? I'm wishing you just stayed dead!" By the time she was finished she was yelling, tears streaming down her face in anger, sorrow, and frustration.

Hisoka froze at that final statement, meeting Miyako's gaze straight on. Reading her eyes for any sign of a lie. The he saw it. The truth. Right there in her gaze. What she said was the truth. At the moment, she honestly wished he were dead.

Anger started bubbling up in Hisoka. Anger at what he wasn't overly sure. Was he angry at Tobi for sparing his life and taking him under his wing? Was he angry at Itachi for not being the one to kill him that night? Or was he angry at Miyako for not accepting him after all these years.

Hisoka took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He bent down and grabbed the tray and cup. "Tobi said I can let you off the chains. Don't even try to escape. You have no idea where you are and we have people working for us." With that said, Hisoka left the room, locking the door behind him and leaving the angry and hurt Miyako behind.

...

Jiraiya – who was one of the three Sanin of Konohagakure and student of the Third Hokage, famous for teaching the Fourth Hokage – was used to meeting with Uchiha Itachi once every few months for a report on the criminal organisation known as the Akatsuki. This meeting, however, was different. Jiraiya knew it from the fact that they had met only two short weeks ago. So when Jiraiya got the message from Itachi's crow a day ago to meet at this location, at this time today, he knew something important must of happened.

Of course, this sudden change in course has led him to leaving Naruto alone in their hotel room three stores away. Naruto was never to become aware of these meetings. If he did, he'd want an explanation, and Jiraiya didn't want to open _that_ can of worms in front of the soon to be fourteen-year-old genin.

"Jiraiya-san," Itachi stated as he sat across from Jiraiya. He wore a blank, grey cloak with his hood up so as to hide better amongst the crowd.

"Itachi-san. What brings us here?" Jiraiya questioned and Itachi handed him the scroll that had been given to him by Hisoka. Jiraiya frowned in confusion as he picked up the scroll and started reading through it, his eyes widening and face going pale as he read its content. He rolled up the scroll once he was done and met Itachi's gaze head on. "Who has her?"

"He calls himself Ookami. He works for a secret member of the Akatsuki known as Tobi, though the other members are unaware of that fact. I already have the required items to complete this 'mission'. All I need is it filled up with the required stuff from Sasuke, and his female teammate, Miyako's cousin, Sakura," Itachi explained and Jiraiya lips formed a straight line as he thought.

"Would you be able to go through with what they want of you and Miyako?" Jiraiya questioned.

Itachi sighed. "I'm not sure. But either way, they will get Miyako to do their bidding. I don't know what they're planning, exactly, but it can't be good."

"I will inform Tsunade of this immediately. Though I will have to inform her of the truth surrounding the massacre," Jiraiya stated and Itachi nodded in understanding and acceptance.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-san. I must be going. Orochimaru has gotten what I need from Sasuke and is sending one of his subordinates to drop it off for me. message me when you've got a response from Tsunade-sama," Itachi stated before getting up and leaving Jiraiya with one hell of a mess to clean up.

...

Tsunade was sick to her stomach, and not just because of what she learnt about the Uchiha Massacre. She already knew that the elders – especially Shimura Danzo – could be cruel, after all, she became well aware of the Shinjitsu Massacre when she became Hokage. No, she was sick to her stomach for what she was about to do to her young student.

True, she was doing it to save her students cousin, but the idea was still sickening. She was , admittedly, giving into terrorist threats. But did she have a choice? Miyako was valuable to the village. She gave regular update on Orochimaru and Sasuke, and she was the last of her clan.

Of course, Tsunade couldn't make this decision on her own... legally. She had to inform the elders. Of course, first she yelled at them for the whole Uchiha Massacre thing, but then got down to business about why she had called them. once they learnt about the danger Miyako was in, the danger the almost extinct clan was in, they ordered Tsunade to give into the demands. Who cares about a non-clan child getting violated in the process? She didn't need to know after all. There was no trauma for the pink haired girl until she finds out. Or _if_ she finds out.

Of course, Tsunade knew that was a load of bull. She knew that one day she'll tell Sakura the truth about the so-called important surgery that she had to undergo. Perhaps when she was sixteen, maybe older. When that day comes, Sakura will probably brake and hate the Konohagakure elders, and possibly Tsunade and Miyako as well.

So, as Tsunade got ready for the operation – tears in her hazel-gold eyes – with a team of ANBU ranked medics, she prayed to the Gods that _nothing_ overly horrible comes of this. But she knew, with the way things were going, the world was about to become an even colder place.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

_**Itachi**_ couldn't meet Jiraiya's onyx gaze as Jiraiya's eyes as Jiraiya handed over the fabric covered container. Itachi now had the items required for completion of the so-called mission. He tried his best not to think about it too much before nodding to Jiraiya and vanishing, heading to the meeting point to deliver the items to Hisoka and Tobi.

He was ashamed of what he was doing, but he knew he'd do anything for Miyako, and Hisoka and Tobi knew that as well. Its why they kidnapped her and chose him for the mission. They wanted to make a point to him. They wanted to show that he wasn't as free as he'd like to think. And now, Miyako was caught in the mix.

Itachi landed in the clearing, where he saw Hisoka's wolf summoning waiting for him. The wolf looked Itachi up and down before speaking. "Do you have the items, Itachi-san?"

Itachi nodded and showed the wolf the two wrapped up containers. The wolf nodded before turning around and leading Itachi through the forest to a large cabin in the middle of nowhere. Outside of the cabin, a young woman stood, her eyes brimmed red she looked over Itachi.

"Uchiha Itachi-san?" she questioned and he nodded wearily. "Ookami-sama and Tobi-sama are waiting for you. If you would please leave all your weapons out here."

Itachi frowned but did as instructed. It wasn't like he needed weapons to defend himself. He had ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu at his beck and call after all, along with his Sharingan. But then again, so did Hisoka and Tobi.

Once satisfied that he was weaponless, the woman led him through the cabin and to a sliding door. She knocked on the door before sliding it open, gesturing for Itachi to enter the room.

Itachi walked in and saw Tobi sitting behind a desk, Hisoka standing to the right of him. Itachi marched over to the two, anger visible on his face and slammed the two objects on the desk. Tobi reached forward, removing the material covering the two objects. He studied them for a few minutes before chuckling.

"I knew you'd be able to get what I needed. They better be properly preserved," Tobi stated, covering the items back up and standing. "A deal is a deal. Hisoka, take Itachi to Miyako-chan, then let them go. Blindfold the girl. If you spill about our location... well, you know what will happen, Itachi," Tobi then left the room with the objects, leaving Hisoka and Itachi alone.

Hisoka smirked. "It only took you four days to get the required items. I'm impressed. Though also upset that you managed to complete the task we gave you. Maybe next time I will have my chance," Hisoka stated before gesturing for Itachi to follow him out of the room.

They walked through the hallway, soon arriving at a set of stairs leading down. Itachi followed Hisoka down into the basement, and through the hallways, noting all the doors as he went. At the very end they stopped, Hisoka grabbed a key and opened the door. As he opened the door, there was a shout and blur of purple. Hisoka moved back a couple of steps as he defended himself against the kick aimed towards his chest.

He grabbed Miyako's leg, pushing her backwards, making her slide back onto her bottom. She groaned before looking around and seeing Itachi. Her eyes widened and she shot towards him, pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

"Itachi," she gasped out in relief, pulling back to meet his charcoal gaze. "Did you do what they wanted you to do?"

Itachi nodded and Miyako frowned, anger burning in his blue gaze.

"You shouldn't have. What they're doing is sick and wrong. I would've rather be tortured than force this on anyone else," Miyako stated and Itachi sighed sadly, removing her arms from his shoulders.

"They're letting you go. But before you go, Hisoka needs to blindfold you," Itachi explained and Miyako frowned, turning to glare at Hisoka.

"You're not getting anywhere near me," she sneered as Hisoka held up a black scarf.

'Do you want to get out of here or not?" Hisoka questioned, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Please, Miyako. Just go along with it. I didn't do all this just for you to stay here due to your stubbornness," Itachi all but begged and Miyako met his gaze again before sighing. She nodded.

"Fine. But the second we're away from this place, the blindfold is to be removed. Got it?" Miyako ordered and both of the men nodded, agreeing to her terms.

Itachi grabbed the scarf off of Hisoka and placed it over Miyako's eyes before leading her through the base and into the forest. He lifted her up into his arms, holding her bridal style and making her blush before he shot off into the forest, Hisoka staying behind with annoyance on his face.

Itachi ran for an hour before he stopped and placed Miyako back on the ground. he removed the scarf, letting it fall to the ground as he gazed into her blue eyes. She blinked to adjust to the bright light of the midday sun before looking around, her gaze landing on Itachi. She smiled and lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss onto his lips.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and returned the kiss. The feelings of being worried and scared for her safety finally calming down, and longing for her was shown through the kiss. They kissed deeply for close to a minute before pulling back, gasping for breath.

"Oh God, Itachi. I was _so_ worried. Not just for me, but you and Sasuke and Sakura," Miyako stated, tears in her eyes as she rested her head on his chest. "How did you do it?"

"Orochimaru was easy enough to convince. As for Tsunade, I had to tell her the truth for her to agree to what needed to be done. Sakura and Sasuke are unaware of what has happened to them. Hopefully they'll never know and the trauma will never hit them," Itachi stated before pulling back. "You have to go back to Sasuke. I promised Orochimaru that I would send you back. Though God knows I don't want that."

Miyako let out a smirk. "One night."

Itachi looked confused. "What?"

"You heard me. Let's just spend one night, to ourselves. Then I'll go back. I promised to look after Sasuke, and I'm not turning back on that promise. But one more night alone won't him," Miyako replied and Itachi frowned. He went to argue but she planted another kiss to his lips, a smile flittering across her face. "This may be the last time we can get alone for a long, _long_ time. Why not take it?"

Itachi sighed, giving in to Miyako's words. "There's a village not too far from Orochimaru's current base. He moved when you became compromised. We'll stay there for the night and most of tomorrow, and _then_ you go back to Sasuke. Agreed?"

Miyako grinned and brought him down for another kiss and another bone-crushing hug. "Yes. I agree."

...

A night turned into a week and it wasn't until Kabuto came and practically dragged her back to the base that Miyako finally returned to Sasuke. She was lying on her bed in Orochimaru's base, thinking back to the last week with a blush on her fair-skinned cheeks. The door of her room slammed open a very angry Sasuke marched in, slamming the door behind him as he went.

Miyako frowned and sat up, tilting her head to the side. "Hey, Sasuke. Long-time no see."

"You've been gone for almost three weeks. _Where have you been?"_ Sasuke questioned angrily and Miyako sighed.

"I was on a mission. It took a bit longer than we had anticipated," Miyako replied, using the lie Orochimaru came up with so Sasuke wouldn't panic about her disappearance.

Sasuke frowned, looking her up and down. "I see you're alright."

Miyako snorted. "Of course I am. Now come on, let's go and start dinner. I have a feeling you haven't been eating properly since I left."

Sasuke grunted and followed the purple-haired girl out of the room and into the kitchen. He actually helped her cook for the first time in a while, and though they cooked enough for both Kabuto and Orochimaru, the two snakes didn't arrive so Miyako wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the fridge before cleaning up hers and Sasuke's mess.

Sasuke didn't say anything throughout the dinner and soon he finished. He left without saying a word to Miyako, making her sigh. She knew he had been worried, his anger when he found out she returned was enough to prove that, but she didn't think that he would react like this. She finished her food and put the dishes in the sink, not bothering to wash them as she returned to her room.

She was nervous for the upcoming years. Something in her told her something big will happen within the next six years. What that was, she wasn't sure. But once she found out, she would be ready.

At least, she hoped she would be.

**(Once again, not my longest chapter but I think it sums up Part III well. I have decided to combine Books 1 and 2 so instead it will just be one book. I haven't written far into Part IV/Book 2 yet, so the updates may take longer to arrive. I hope you all enjoy this story so far and would love to hear more from you all, including your opinions on what you think will/should/may happen. Thank you for being here throughout this journey. ^_^)**


	26. Chapter 26

Part IV

"You don't need them to believe in you,

Get your mission on lock and see it through.

You've got all the power you need in you..." _– Superhero, Simon Curtis_

Chapter Twenty-Six

**T**he day for Miyako had been boring. She had spent much of the morning training in medical ninjutsu, and the early afternoon doing further training in other areas. She had just laid down to rest before cooking dinner when there was a loud boom hurtling through the underground base.

With a sigh, Miyako stood up, putting her training kimono back on, and made her way through the base. She knew the arrival of the pale Konoha shinobi earlier was a bad omen. She walked to the end of the hall, where she saw a bright light that shouldn't be there. She sighed, again, before stepping into the light.

She looked around the caved-in area. On the top of the cave-in, Sasuke stood, a blank look on his handsome features. In front of him stood a familiar pink-haired kunoichi, who stood, staring at Sasuke in a mixture of shock and awe. Next to her was the pale, black haired shinobi from earlier.

Miyako watched as a familiar blond-haired shinobi ran out of another hallway. He stopped, and stared in shock at Sasuke, who eyed him with his blank, onyx eyes.

"Naruto. You're here too. Where's Kakashi?" Sasuke questioned the newly arrived fifteen-year-old.

"Kakashi isn't here. I'm his replacement," a brown-haired shinobi with a scary face stated, walking into the caved in clearing.

"Who, are you?" Sasuke questioned the newly arrived Jōnin slowly.

"Captain Yamato," the unknown shinobi replied.

Miyako leaned against a nearby wall before speaking. "Stop gossiping, Sasuke. We have better things to do than play with these shinobi."

Everyone spun to look at the purple-haired girl. They stared at her in shock and awe. She stepped further into the sunlight, crossing her arms over her ample chest. "Sasuke. Naruto. Good to see you."

"Miyako? You were here this whole time?" Sakura questioned, and Miyako tilted her head to the side.

"Here? As in watching your interaction with Sasuke? Or here? As in with Orochimaru and Sasuke?" Miyako questioned as another figure ran into the area. Another Konoha shinobi. This one, she recognised instantly. He was carrying something in his arms, making the girl narrow her blue eyes. "Takeo, I suggest you give Ainu over to me."

Takeo stared at Miyako in surprise as everyone stared at the bundle in his arms. "Miyako? Whose child is this?"

"Mine," Miyako replied simply. "She is only eight months old. I would like her back. Please."

"I think she'd be safer with me, don't you, Miyako?" Takeo questioned, and Miyako frowned, before charging at her old teammate. She grabbed the baby out of his arms and jumped up to stand next to Sasuke, who had tensed up when he saw Ainu in the hands of the enemy.

"Who's the father?" Sakura questioned wearily. She had noted the child's dark hair, dark eyes, and pale features. The child looked so much like Sasuke it almost hurt Sakura to look at it.

"_Not_ Sasuke's," Miyako replied, knowing the train of thought Sakura was going through. "His brothers."

Everyone gasped in shock, not believing her words. "And you're okay with this, Sasuke?" Yamato questioned wearily, expecting the volatile teen to lash out at the mention of his elder brother.

"I trust Miyako. I accept the child as my niece," Sasuke stated with a shrug, making everyone – but Miyako – surprised. "Even if Miyako won't tell me where _He_ is."

"I currently don't know his location, Sasuke," Miyako replied simply. "If I did, I'd take Ainu to meet him."

"Hey! Stop acting like we're not here!" Naruto shouted, and she sighed as Sasuke shot down, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder. It almost looked like they were hugging.

Miyako watched as Naruto was brought into a Genjutsu, and, within second, they were back out. Sasuke moved to attack Naruto with his sword, only for Captain Yamato to stop it.

"Sasuke, stop playing around," Miyako stated as Ainu started to wake up. She looked down at the little girl with a smile, cooing at her. "How's my little girl?"

"So, she really _is_ yours," Takeo stated in surprise, and Miyako shot him a glare.

"Of course she is. Why would I lie about that?" Miyako questioned in annoyance, and he shrugged in response.

"Sasuke," Orochimaru hissed out, appearing next to the two females.

Sasuke turned to face him. "Are we leaving?"

"This base has been compromised. Miyako, will you and Ainu be joining us?" Orochimaru questioned, gazing at Ainu hungrily as Miyako shielded her daughter from him.

Sasuke jumped up next to Kabuto – who had arrived along with Orochimaru as Miyako responded. "I have other places to be. But I'm sure we'll meet again," Miyako replied, and Orochimaru nodded before he, Sasuke, and Kabuto left in flames.

Miyako turned to face the Konoha-nin that were watching her wearily, as if afraid she would make a move against them. Miyako rolled her eyes. "I'm not fighting whilst looking after Ainu," she stated as the one-year-old let out a cry.

Miyako turned around and started to breastfeed the hungry child. She made sure her breast was covered before facing the Konoha-nin. Naruto stared at her in shocked fascination.

"Is the baby drinking from your boob?" Naruto questioned, and Sakura grew an irk mark, hitting him over the head.

"It's called breastfeeding, you moron! A lot of mothers do it to feed their babies," Sakura snapped in annoyance.

"But still... in front of enemies?" Sai questioned in confusion.

"A baby's got to eat," Miyako replied simply with a shrug. "Now then, back to business. I stayed behind to give you all a warning. Stop trying to hunt Sasuke down. He doesn't want to return, so don't make him."

Naruto clenched his teeth in anger before pointing angrily at Miyako. "Don't tell me what to do! You're a traitor to the village!"

Miyako raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "If _I'm_ a traitor for leaving the village. What does that make Sasuke?"

Naruto glared at Miyako, realising the truth in those words. While he wanted nothing more than to attack the purple-haired seventeen-year-old, he held back because of the baby in her arms.

"You bitch! Sasuke-kun was tricked! _You_ left whilst in your right state of mind!" Sakura yelled, and Miyako sighed in annoyance, wincing slightly as Ainu bit down a bit too hard.

"Sakura, calm down," Yamato ordered, and Sakura bit her lip, glaring at her cousin.

Miyako smirked as Ainu stopped feeding, putting her breast back under her clothes, and started burping the child. More so out of habit than necessity.

"Well, it was nice catching up with you. However, I have places to go, people to see," Miyako stated before securing her little one into her arms and rushing off. She could hear the shouts of Naruto and Sakura and the commands of Takeo and Yamato as she left. She laughed. Her cousin and Naruto were still the same.

After an hour of non-stop running, she stopped and placed Ainu on the ground. Ainu let out a laugh and started crawling around as Miyako pulled out a letter sent to her by Itachi. She re-read the letter before folding it back up and putting it in her kimono pocket. She picked Ainu up and started walking to a village on the border of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth. There, she would find Itachi.

...

A few days of travel later, with regular stops to rest, Miyako finally made it to the village. She went to the only tea house in the village and sat down. She placed Ainu on the hardwood floor, letting her crawl around.

Miyako watched Ainu as she drank her Matcha green tea, her gaze only leaving her daughter when the door open. After half an hour of waiting, the door opened and Itachi walked in. When he saw Miyako, he gave a soft smile and sat down, paying no attention to the eight-month-old, assuming she belonged to the stores' owner.

"Itachi," Miyako breathed out with a smile, pulling him into a hug and a firm kiss. Itachi responded with fever, pushing his tongue into her mouth. She laughed before pulling away, picking Ainu up. "This is Ainu. Our daughter."

Itachi froze before taking a proper look at the child. Noting the features almost identical to his own. "Uchiha Ainu? Or Shinjitsu Ainu?"

"Haruno, actually. To hide her true heritage," Miyako replied, handing Ainu to Itachi.

Itachi took the baby, looking at her with awe in his onyx eyes. He couldn't see all that well anymore but could tell that she had his colouring and her mother's features. She was the cutest baby he had ever seen. Even cuter than Sasuke he surmised. Though, if he was being honest with himself, he _was_ being a bit biased. But he didn't care.

"She's beautiful," Itachi stated as he kissed her forehead, making Miyako smile happily. His gaze went to Miyako, a small frown on his lips. "How did Sasuke take it?"

Miyako smiled, thinking back to the day Sasuke realised she was pregnant, and that it was his elder brothers child.

_Miyako was resting in her room. She was three months pregnant and had just begun to show. Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Sasuke have yet to notice her pregnancy, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they did. After all, she was starting to show, and the little one was starting to take more chakra from her, making her get tired quicker when training._

"_Miyako, are you alright?" Sasuke questioned as he entered the room without knocking. It was something of a bd habit of his, though Miyako always warned him against it._

"_Hm? Why do you ask, Sasuke?" Miyako questioned with a raised eyebrow, making Sasuke frown._

"_You've been vomiting a lot lately. Plus, you've been getting tired quicker during our training sessions," Sasuke surmised, making Miyako smile gently as she rest ta hand on her stomach. A movement that didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke._

"_You can't tell Orochimaru or Kabuto. They need to figure it out on their own," Miyako stated and Sasuke nodded, closing the door and activating the silencing seals to make the room soundproof. One of the many things Miyako had recently taught him._

"_Well?" Sasuke questioned, crossing his arms over his chest._

"_I'm pregnant," Miyako announced proudly, making Sasuke look at her blankly, having gone into shock at the announcement._

_He frowned. "Who's the father? I hope he's not some random person."_

_Now it was Miyako's turn to turn blank-faced. "What do you take me for? Some kind of whore?"_

_Sasuke shrugged, a smirk on his lips, making Miyako turn red with anger._

"_Why, you little brat!" Miyako shouted as she lunged for the fourteen-year-old. Sasuke easily dodged, making Miyako even more annoyed. "If you must know, Sa-su-ke-chan," she teased, making him frown in annoyance. "The baby is your brothers."_

_Sasuke growled as he glared at Miyako, Sharingan activated in anger. "Kill it."_

_Miyako sighed, having expected this response. "Sasuke, the child is innocent. It has nothing to do with Itachi other being his offspring. Would you punish it for something it had nothing to do with?"_

_Sasuke frowned before sighing. He deactivated his Sharingan as he saw the logic in her words. He now felt guilty. "You're right. I'm sorry I said that. I accept the child as your child and my niece or nephew. I will protect it the best I can."_

Itachi looked surprised as Miyako finished recounting the story. He sigh, a sad smile on his lips. "I honestly expected him to act worse."

Miyako laughed as a waitress came up and shot the two of them a smile. "Can I get you two anything?"

"Green tea and a serving of Dango, please," Itachi responded and the lady turned to Miyako.

"I'll also have a serving od Dango. And a cup of milk for the little one if you don't mind," Miyako replied and the lady smiled and nodded to go place their order.

"If the Akatsuki get word of Ainu, who knows what they'll do," Itachi stated with a frown, thinking more specifically of the one who calls himself 'Tobi'.

Miyako sighed. "Ainu will have a _lot_ of people after her. Orochimaru was ecstatic when he learnt of my pregnancy. As if I'd let him touch her."

"Did he try?"

Miyako nodded. "Sasuke went into a frenzy when he learnt of Orochimaru's plan for Ainu. He almost killed the snake sannin then and there. Orochimaru didn't try to touch Ainu again."

"The Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and Danzo are all her enemies now. They'll all want to use her for one reason or another," Itachi stated, pausing as the food and drinks were delivered. Once the waitress was gone, he turned back to Miyako. "You can't keep her with you. She's at too much of a risk."

"I know. Sasuke plans on killing Orochimaru soon. I can't keep travelling with her." Miyako looked out the window, a frown on her lips. "But I can't leave Sasuke on his own. I don't know what to do."

"Is there anyone you trust to protect her?" Itachi questioned as he took a bite of his dango.

"Three people,. My old teammate, my sensei, and his wife. But they all live in Konohagakure, meaning she'll be too close to Danzo – and the elders for that matter," Miyako explained as Itachi put Ainu on the wooden floor, letting the eight-month-old crawl around the tea house.

"Then you have no choice but to take her with you," Itachi stated with a sigh, resting his face on his pale hand. "Or you can go into hiding until she is old enough to defend herself. I can't take her. No matter how much I want to.

"I never expected you to, Itachi-kun," Miyako replied, taking his long-fingered hand in hers. Both hands a fair-skinned as each other. "I came here because I wanted you to meet her at least once before you give your life for Sasuke's sake."

Itachi smiled sadly, thinking back to his plan. He was starting to second guess it. He frowned as the thoughts crossed his mind, shaking his head. _No,_ he thought, _this is for the best. The plan is for the best._

Miyako finished the last of her Dango, watching as the waitress knelt down and started to play with Ainu. She smiled, wishing – and not for the first time – that she was a civilian and that Ainu could live a simple life.

"Which kekkei genkai do you think she will get?" Miyako questioned Itachi, whose gaze also fell to the little girl.

"One or the other. Maybe both. Maybe neither. Who knows," Itachi replied logically.

Miyako laughed at the thought of a mind-reading, Sharingan wielding kunoichi. "She'd be formidable if she had both abilities."

"A magnet for trouble," Itachi agreed with a smile before finishing the last of his drink. "I need to go, Miyako. Kisame-san will be wondering where I am."

Miyako frowned but nodded in understanding. She stood up with Itachi and gave him a hug and a deep kiss. She pulled back, a sad smile on her lips. For some reason, she felt that this would be the last time she sees Itachi alive.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

**M**iyako walked up to the entrance of one of Orochimaru's hideout, pausing before entering, Ainu secured to her back in a sling she had bought before leaving the village she and Itachi had met up in.

As she entered the hideout, she noted how quiet it was. It had been a week since she saw Itachi, two weeks since she had been with Sasuke, the Snake sannin, and his subordinates. She couldn't help but shiver as she entered the snake's den.

There was a loud bang from further into the hideout, and she made her way into Orochimaru's room to find a dead Orochimaru and a panting Sasuke. She walked up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder, making him tense in surprise at the sudden contact.

"It's just me and Ainu-chan," Miyako stated as he gaze flickered around the destroyed room. "Where's Kabuto?"

"Don't know," Sasuke grunted, turning to face Miyako with his Sharingan blazing red and black. "Don't care."

Miyako frowned. "He's as much a snake as Orochimaru. You _should _care," she stated before turning her back on Sasuke.

"Ainu and I are going to rest for today. If you can wait one day, we will join you to gather the allies you've chosen," Miyako stated simply and left the room, not awaiting a reply as she made her way to her and Ainu's room in the base, closing the door behind her with a sigh.

She unwrapped Ainu from her back and placed her in the bed. She watched the sleeping baby for a minute before her gaze fell to the other door in the room that led to the bathroom. After a week of travel and sleeping outdoors, Miyako relished the thought of having a shower, but she hesitated in the event that Ainu woke up while she was showering.

The door to her room opened, revealing Sasuke who stood there with no emotion on his fair-skinned face. "I'll watch Ainu so you can relax."

Miyako looked at Sasuke in surprise. He rarely ever to offers to help with Ainu, but she wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth and smiled before nodding. She grabbed a change of clothes and a towel before entering the bathroom, leaving Sasuke with his niece.

...

Sasuke sighed before making his way over to Ainu, looking down at the little girl, a small smile on his lips as he thought about the day she was born.

_Sasuke was just getting out of the shower after training when he heard banging on the bathroom door. In annoyance, he wrapped a towel around the lower part of his body and slammed the door open, only to be met with a teary-eyed, almost ten-month pregnant Miyako/_

"_What?" he asked, and Miyako latched onto him. "M-Miyako?" Sasuke stuttered in shock._

"_S-Sasuke, the baby. She's coming,"_ _Miyako stated, making Sasuke freeze up in shock._

"_What do we do?" Sasuke questioned, forcing himself to remain calm in the face of the problem at the moment. _

"_You need to get dressed. Then carry me to the nearby villages midwife. No way am I giving birth to my child here in the hideout," Miyako ordered, and Sasuke nodded, pushing Miyako out of the way and rushing into his room to get dressed while Miyako looked away to offer him privacy. _

_He quickly got dressed and picked Miyako up, rushing out of the base before running to the nearby village. This was no easy task due to Miyako's current weight._

_When they arrived, he went to the midwife who settled Miyako down in the back room and looked at Sasuke. _

"_Is the baby your's?" the middle-aged woman question, making Sasuke blanch in shock._

"_N-NO! No. It's my brothers," Sasuke explained, blushing at the thought of making babies with Miyako. "He's a shinobi and can't be here so he put me in charge of looking after his girlfriend while he's away," he explained, a little white lie couldn't hurt... right?_

"_I see. Unfortunately, only the father can be in the room with her. You'll have to wait out here," the midwife explained, and Sasuke nodded in understanding, relief at not being needed in the room. He didn't _want_ to witness a birth._

_He sat down on the couch outside the door to the room as the midwife walked into the back room. _

_Five hours later – full of grunts of pain – a sound of a newborn baby filled the house. Sasuke shot up nervously as the door to the room opened and the midwife walked out, a smile on her tired face._

"_Congratulations. You're an uncle to ba little girl," she stated, and gestured to the room. "You may go in now, if you wish."_

_Nervously, Sasuke entered the room to find an exhausted Miyako sitting up against some pillows, a bundle wrapped up in an off-white blanket in her arms._

_Miyako smiled when she saw Sasuke. "Come and meet your niece."_

_Sasuke walked up to the bed stiffly, looking down in the blanket to see a newborn with a small tuft of dark-purple, almost black hair on her head, red-tinged skin, and sleeping peacefully._

"_What name have you decided?" Sasuke questioned in awe of the first Uchiha born since the massacre._

"_Ainu. Officially Haruno Ainu. Butt, if she develops one of our kekkei genkai she will take that surname instead," Miyako stated. "I want to keep her as safe as possible."_

_Sasuke gave a smile as he touched the little babies hand, the first true smile he's given for many years. He let the infant grasp his finger. "She's perfect. You should be proud. Even if she is _his_ daughter."_

That day, Sasuke vowed to himself to protect his niece, and Miyako as well. He knew that he'd do anything for them, anything for Ainu. In his eyes, nothing was more precious. Her safety had become more important to him than even Itachi's death.

"What are you thinking about, Sasuke?" Miyako questioned as she entered the room, a towel wrapped around her hair.

Sasuke grunted in response as he stood up from his spot on the bed and turned to face Miyako, a blank look on his face once again.

Miyako sighed. "Not going to tell me, huh?"

Sasuke nodded, and Miyako let out a laugh.

"You know, I could just read your thoughts if I wanted to."

"You respect my privacy too much to do that," Sasuke replied knowingly.

"Perhaps," Miyako agreed before making her way over tot Ainu, past Sasuke. "How was she? No problem I suppose?"

"Not even a stir," Sasuke replied, and Miyako nodded in understanding.

"That's good. So I take it that you're going to wait until tomorrow before making your wa to get Suigetsu?" Miyako questioned and Sasuke grunted in agreement, making his way towards the bedroom door.

"Get some rest. We leave at dawn," Sasuke ordered and left the room, closing the door behind him and making Miyako sigh again as she turned to Ainu.

"Honestly, Ainu, what are we going to do with that uncle of yours? He is such as troublesome person."

...

The next day, at dawn exactly, Miyako, Sasuke, and Ainu made their way out of the base and towards one of Orochimaru's many laboratories. I would take a day to reach their destination, but the two teens didn't mind. Ainu, on the other hand, was restless, wanting to get down and crawl around.

"Sasuke, maybe we should stop at the next tea house. We need to let Ainu use up her energy a little bit," Miyako suggested wearily, knowing Sasuke wouldn't like the delay.

Sasuke shot her a glare, and Miyako frowned in annoyance.

"Come on, an hour crawling around and she'll sleep for a few hours. Either that, or _you_ can carry her instead," Miyako stated with a smirk, making Sasuke glare harder.

"Fine. At the next tea house we'll take a break," Sasuke agreed, not wanting to carry his niece around. The very thought of his enemies seeing him carrying a baby made him shudder. No way in hell was he looking weak in front of the enemy.

"Thank you, Sasuke. I know it's inconvenient having me and Ainu around, but there's no way I'm leaving you alone," Miyako stated, and Sasuke turned back to the road ahead.

He knew there was a tea house another kilometre up the road, and if he was being honest he wouldn't mind a small break, after all, it was just past lunchtime and he was getting hungry.

...

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the tea house. Once seated, Miyako let Ainu out, who was more than happy to crawl around the little shop, much to the delight of the elderly worker who cooed at the adorable now nine-month-old.

"What can we get you?" one the ladies questioned the two teens.

"Two Sakura teas please, plus two serving of your beef stir-fry," Miyako ordered, and the lady nodded.

"Would you like me to bring some mashed-up vegetables out for your little one?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful. Thank you," Miyako replied with a smile, and the lady nodded before heading to the kitchen to place the order. "Do you want to feed Ainu today, Sasuke?"

"Hmm, sure. It'll give me something to do," Sasuke replied, pretending he didn't care. But to be honest, he loved looking after his niece, he saw it as practice for when he had children of his own.

"Oh! I know that look. You're thinking of your future again," Miyako stated with a smile after some minutes have passed. Sasuke looked at her in surprise, she was getting too good at reading him, even without her kekkei genkai.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement to her assessment.

"Well, I know one part of your plan can only be completed once you return to Konohagakure. And _that's_ finding some poor female to marry and make babies with," Miyako stated with a smirk. "What was your plan? Kill Itachi then restore your clan? Looks like Itachi is already one step ahead of you on the restoring part."

"How are you so casual about me planning to kill your boyfriend?" Sasuke questioned a she lady returned and place their order down, she paused and looked at Sasuke in horror before running off, probably to gossip with the cooks on what she overheard.

"It's what he wants. Who am I to go against his wishes?" Miyako questioned as she stood up and grabbed Ainu, handing her to Sasuke to feed.

"He _wants_ me to kill him?" Sasuke questioned as he began feeding his niece, who giggled, wanting to play with her food instead.

"He wants you to try," Miyako replied as she took a bite of her food. "Oh, how delicious! Do you like your food, Ainu-chan?"

"Ah, ba!" Ainu replied as she munched on her food.

"I wonder what vegetable they used," Miyako contemplated with a tilt of her head.

"We used broccoli, sweet potato, and snow peas," one the old women stated, and Miyako smiled.

"How perfect! Thank you," Miyako replied, and the woman smiled.

"You have a beautiful daughter. What's her name?"

"Ainu. This here is her uncle," Miyako explained the unasked question that was going through the ladies mind.

"Putting him to work I see. Where's the father?"

"He's a shinobi. We rarely see him because of his line of work," Sasuke stated before Miyako could reply.

"Are you a shinobi as well?" the woman questioned in curiosity.

"We both are. But we're currently on vacation," Miyako replied, glancing at Sasuke who had stiffened and seemed to be getting annoyed with the woman's endless questioning.

Sensing the fifteen-year-olds state the woman excused herself and Sasuke relaxed, finishing feeding Ainu and placing her on the ground so he could eat his now cold food as Miyako finished hers.

...

A day later, they arrived at the laboratory. Miyako followed Sasuke through the building and into a room where there were tubes, all full of some liquid or another. Sasuke stopped in front of one and smashed it open, the liquid falling out and forming into a white-haired teen with pointed teeth and purple eyes. He also happened to be naked.

"Well, well, if it isn't Uchiha Sasuke. What brings you here?" the teen questioned, coming up behind Sasuke and pointing his fingers in the shape of a gun.

"I killed Orochimaru. I want you to join me in killing my brother," Sasuke stated as Miyako leant against a wall and watched the interaction in amusement.

"Why should I help you? You killed Orochimaru? Big whoop. Almost everyone wanted him dead, you were just the one to do it," the boy stated.

"What if _I _ask nicely, Suigetsu-san?" Miyako questioning, startling the boy as his gaze fell to the purple-haired teen, a wide grin fluttering across his lips.

"Hey, Miyako-san, long time no see. Still following this loser around I see. And look at that, you have a daughter. Sasuke is an uncle," Suigetsu stated with a laugh, stepping away from Sasuke. "Tell you what, because I actually like you, I'll make a deal. You take me to get Zabuza's sword, Kubikiribocho, and I'll join your group."

"Deal," Sasuke stated.

"Now get dressed. We'll wait for you in the clearing," Miyako stated with a smile and her and Sasuke left, leaving a grinning Suigetsu behind.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Seven

**T**wo weeks later – after making a stop to the Land of Waves to get Kubikiribocho – they made it t the next base where they came face to face with non-other than the red-headed Karin. She was waiting for them, a frown on her lips.

"What are you doing here?" Karin questioned, looking at the ragtag group wearily, not showing her surprise at spotting a baby amongst the group. She had heard rumours about Miyako having a child, and it appeared that those rumours were true.

"I'm hunting down Itachi. I want you to join me," Sasuke stated bluntly.

"Why should I? I have to guard the prisoners here for Orochimaru-sama," Karin replied, and Sasuke closed his eyes in annoyance.

"Sasuke killed Orochimaru," Miyako stated, surprised Karin. "Suigetsu, can you release the prisoners, please?"

"For you? Anything," Suigetsu replied with a wink to Miyako before walking pass Karin and into the base to do as requested.

"Bee that as it may be, I won't come," Karin replied stubbornly to Miyako and Sasuke.

"OK. I'll just get someone else then," Sasuke replied and turned to walk away, only to have Karin get flustered.

"Okay, okay. If you want me _that_ badly, I'll come," Karin replied, flashing him a flirtatious wink, making Miyako giggle as Suigetsu returned.

"If she doesn't want to come, we should get going," Suigetsu stated, rubbing the back of his neck with a yawn.

"She's changed her mind," Miyako stated with a smirk directed to Karin.

"T-that's not it! I just _happen_ to be going in the same direction as you lot," Karin stated, flustered at having been caught out by Miyako. "At least, for the moment."

"We will stay here the night, and then make our way to the Northern Hideout to get the final member of the team," Sasuke ordered, and the group nodded, going their separate ways. Karin to pack, Suigetsu to get someone to eat, and Sasuke and Miyako to find a room to rest in for the night.

**...**

The next day, the group started to make their way to the Northern Hideout when Karin asked the first question. "Who are we collecting this time?"

"His name is Jūgo. I'm sure you've heard of him," Miyako replied as they walked through the forest.

Karin nodded in affirmation. "Everyone who works for Orochimaru-sama has."

"I haven't," Suigetsu stated.

"Anyone worth something to Orochimaru-sama has," Karin snapped.

"Sooo, who is he?" Suigetsu questioned.

"Jūgo was probably Orochimaru's most important experiment. He gave him the means to create the cursed seals," Miyako explained simply.

Suigetsu whistled in amazement. "Damn. And here I though _Sasuke_ was Orochimaru's golden child."

Miyako laughed as they arrived at the Northern Hideout after arriving at a rocky, mountainous area. They entered the hideout, only to be surrounded by a group of curse infected prisoners.

"None of these are Jūgo," Karin stated simply, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.

"Incapacitate them then. _Don't _kill them," Sasuke ordered as he and Suigetsu worked together to attack the experiments, whilst Miyako stayed in the shadows with Ainu so as to not draw any attention to them.

Karin stood in front of Miyako, prepared to protect her and the baby if need be. Though Karin knew that she probably didn't stand much of a chance against this particular group of foes.

In a matter of minutes, Sasuke and Suigetsu had incapacitated the group of prisoners. The group made their way further into the hideout until they found a room with keys for Jūgo's cell.

"Karin, lead the way," Sasuke ordered, and Karin nodded and took the front of the group, leading them through hallways and to a cell where even Sasuke and Suigetsu could sense the chakra of Jūgo. Karin unlocked the door and Sasuke entered.

Miyako and Karin stood back, as suddenly, Sasuke was attacked and sent through the doorway. Jūgo, and orange-haired teen, quickly followed, attacking Sasuke who kept dodging and tried to reason with him. Sasuke had no choice but activate his curse seal and the two teens battled it out the best way they could.

"Suigetsu, you have to beat him to a pulp to calm him down!" Miyako shouted, and Suigetsu joined in on the battle, which escalated.

Sasuke tried to calm the fighting teens down, but they wouldn't listen, which pissed Sasuke off. He summoned two snakes and wrapped them around Suigetsu and Jūgo, releasing a large amount of killing intent which seemed to calm the orange-haired teen.

Once the transformation receded, Jūgo rushed back into his cell. "Lock the door, and leave me here," he ordered softly.

"W-what?" Suigetsu questioned, making Miyako shrug and Karin roll hear eyes.

"While he may be violent and bloodthirsty when full of rage, Jūgo himself doesn't like hurting others. It's why he came to Orochimaru-sama, in the hope of getting some help, or being locked up so he doesn't hurt anyone else," Karin explained.

"Jūgo, I want you to help me with a mission," Sasuke explained.

"Just leave me here. Its safer for everyone that way," Jūgo replied.

"I can keep you in control," Sasuke offered.

"Only Kimimaro could do such a thin," Jūgo replied. "He was my friend."

"Jūgo-san, do you know how Kimimaro died?" Miyako questioned, making the orange-eyed boy look at her in surprise. He shook his head on reply. "He died bringing Sasuke to Orochimaru."

Jūgo heisted before slowly coming of the cell. "Hmm, if that's the case, I'll came with you." His gaze fell on Miyako and Ainu, surprise showing in their orange depths. "A baby?"

Miyako stood forward, though Sasuke moved closer protectively. He didn't quite trust Jūgo just yet. "I'm Shinjitsu Miyako. This is my daughter, Haruno Ainu."

"It's nice to meet you, Miyako-san. Ainu-chan," Jūgo replied.

"I'm Hozuki Suigetsu," Suigetsu greeted with a wave.

"Uchiha Sasuke. And this is Karin," Sasuke introduced himself and the redhead to the teen. "From this day forth, we are Team Hebi. Our goal it to kill my elder brother, Uchiha Itachi. Do I have your back-up?"

"I want Samahada, which is currently being held by Hoshigaki Kisame. I'll join your group seeing as he work with Itachi," Suigetsu stated with a grin.

Karin rolled her red eyes at Suigetsu words before speaking, "I'll also help"

"I know why _you _joined. It's because you—" Suigetsu started but was cut off by Karin punching him in the gut, winding him.

"You are Kimimaro's reincarnation. I will join," Jūgo stated, making the group to face Miyako who shot a smirk at them/

"I'll follow you anywhere, Sasuke. After all, I'm your self-appointed babysitter," Miyako stated, making Suigetsu burst out laughing at Miyako's words.

"God, I love this girl," Suigetsu stated, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "_Don't_ touch her."

Sasuke ripped Suigetsus' arm off of Miyako, Sharingan blazing in anger.

**...**

After a week of travel, the group stopped at an inn in a village in the Land of Fire. Miyako was glad to let her daughter rest from their travelling and set up a room with Karin in the inn, whilst Suigetsu and Jūgo got another room, and Sasuke got a room of his own.

Miyako had just given Ainu to Sasuke to watch and returned to her room, only to have Karin disturb her plan of rest. "is it true that Ainu-chan is Itachi's daughter?" Karin questioned Miyako as she sat on her futon.

"So what if she is?" Miyako questioned as she laid down on the opposite futon, her blue gaze watching Karin wearily.

"Are you loyal to him? Itachi," Karin questioned her red eyes narrowed.

"'Course I am. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't," Miyako replied as if it were common knowledge.

"You know that doesn't make any sense. Why would you help Sasuke kill his brother if you still care for him?"

"Itachi asked me to look after his little brother, and I promised I would. If that means I have to help him kill his brother, then so be it. After all, it's what Itachi wants," Miyako explained, closing her eyes in the hopes that Karin would drop the conversation, but, of course, she didn't.

"This is confusing. You make it sound as if he feels guilty for what he's done."

Miyako winced at the truth of that statement, a movement that didn't go unnoticed by Karin, whose red eyes widened as she started to slowly connect the dots.

"He _does,_ doesn't he?"

"Goodnight, Karin."

"No! Not "goodnight, Karin"," Karin stated. "If Itachi feels guilty for what he did, that means he didn't want to do it. Which means..." Karin gasped. "Was he ordered to do it?"

"You['re entering dangerous territory," Miyako warned.

"You _need_ to tell Sasuke-kun. You and I both know that if he finds out after the fact he'll feel so guilty he'll go on a rampage against Konohagakure," Karin warned.

"Which is why he _won't_ find out," Miyako snapped, sitting up and glaring at the red head.

"And how can you ensure that? Things always come out after people's deaths. Don't try to tell me otherwise, Miyako. Do you really trust that anyone who knows the truth will take it to the grave?"

Miyako looked away and bit her lip. She knew Karin had a point and that besides Konoha's elders, herself, and Itachi, at least two other people knew the truth. He ex-teammate and supposed to be dead Uchiha Hisoka, and the one who calls himself Tobi and Madara. An unknown Uchiha who helped Itachi kill the clan, the one who spared Hisoka for whatever reason.

"Shit,"; she cursed as she realised that the last two people would gladly tell Sasuke the truth to get him to do what they want. She didn't want to go against Itachi's wishes, but she may not have much of a choice if it meant keeping Itachi's wishes of peace for Konoha alive.

She stood up and looked at Karin. "Come with me. I need to tell Sasuke the truth to avoid the destruction of a whole village. You can look after Ainu whilst I tell him. After all, this is not going to go down well if I know Sasuke. But, before that," she turned not her bag and pulled out a scroll and started to write two letters, one to Itachi an the other to the current Hokage – Tsunade.

Once that was done, she summoned two falcons and tied the messages to their legs and let them out the window. She turned back to Karin, who watched in interest. "Let's go and ruin Sasuke's day, shall we?"

**...**

In Konohagakure – The Village Hidden in the Leaves – rumours were spreading amongst its shinobi that one Uchiha Sasuke had killed the snake sannin Orochimaru and had gathered a team to take out his brother next. The news had finally reached a blond whose bright blue eyes widened and he rushed to find his teammate.

He found her destroying a training ground with her fists. He sweat-dropped at the thought of being on the receiving end of those fists and decided it'd probably be best not to annoy her... for today anyway.

"Sakura-chan!" he shouted, and the pink-haired girl stopped what she was doing in surprise.

"Naruto? What's wrong?" she questioned as she walked up to him, wiping some sweat off her brow.

"Did you hear the rumours? Sasuke killed Orochimaru and is now hunting Itachi down," Naruto explained, making Sakura's eyes widen in shock.

"Do you think Miyako-chan is with him?" she questioned.

Naruto nodded. "Most likely. Come on. We have to ask Granny Tsunade to send us out to look for either them or Itachi!"

Sakura nodded in agreement and the duo rushed out of the training field and through the streets of Konohagakure to the Hokage building – which was cantered in the very centre of the village –

and ran in. They slammed the door to the Hokage's office open, making the blonde-haired woman look up in surprise, and the three other occupants turn to look at the duo in curiosity.

"Naruto, Sakura, great timing. I was just about to call you two out on a mission. I'm assuming you've heard the rumours surrounding Sasuke?" the blonde-haired woman questioned.

"Is it true then, shishou?" Sakura questioned respectfully to her mentor.

"My sources suggest so. However, I need confirmation. This is why I'm sending you five, plus two others on a mission to locate Sasuke and his team, along with Miyako, and confirm if Orochimaru is dead and, if possible, bring them back to Konoha," Tsunade explained as the door opened to reveal two more people. "You already know Fuchigami Takeo, this is his and Miyako's ex-sensei. Higa Tsuneo. I'm assuming you got the mission scroll alright?"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. We accept the mission," Tsuneo stated, taking a look at the other people in the room. "Hmm, good to see you again Kakashi-san, Sakura-chan, Naruto. I – however – don't know you two." His gaze fell on the brown-haired shinobi and the pale boy.

"Captain Yamato, and this is Sai," the man replied with a respectful nod of his head. "It's nice to meet you, Tsuneo-san."

"Likewise," Tsuneo replied, his gaze looking over the ROOT member who gave him a smile so fake it was unnerving.

"Nice to see you again, Boring," Sau stated, making Sakura and Naruto sigh and Takeo laugh.

"Ok. You've all had your introductions. Now off you go. Leave as soon as possible. And, Yamato, you're in charge of this mission," Tsunade ordered And everyone stood up straight and nodded before leaving the office.

Once they were gone, Tsunade pulled out a scroll and unravelled it.

_I hope you're prepared for a shit storm, Miyako. Especially if you really do plan on telling Sasuke the truth._


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Nine

**M**iyako sat in Sasuke's room across from Sasuke. Karin was with Ainu and the other two boys down in a nearby soba restaurant. She knew that Sasuke's reaction to what was about to be said was going to be unpredictable, and thought that it would be best if Karin, Ainu, Suigetsu, and Jūgo to be away from Sasuke when he hears the not-so-good – okay, _horrible –_ news.

"What did you want to talk about?" Sasuke asked in a bored tone of voice, not really interested in the conversation that was about to take place for he didn't know what was about to happen.

"Nice day we're having today, ne?" Miyako stated, trying to hold off on the conversation and making Sasuke's onyx eyes narrow in suspicion.

"It's raining," he stated bluntly, and Miyako let out a forced laugh.

"I _know_ that. But I happen to like the rain, so for me it's a nice day," Miyako stated, and Sasuke hummed, not believing Miyako's words for a second.

"Tell me the true reason you are here," Sasuke ordered, and Miyako bit her lip, turning to face away from Sasuke as she tried to figure out the best way to breach this particular topic. Sasuke's eyes softened at the nervous girl in front of him as he kicked off the wall and knelt down next to her. "You know you can trust me."

"It's not that. You'll hate me after I tell you this," Miyako replied, and Sasuke looked at her in confusion.

"I didn't hate you after you fell pregnant with Ainu. I doubt I'll hate you after you've said whatever you want to say."

Miyako let out a humourless laugh. "Trust me on this, you probably will." She paused and met his gaze. "Can you sit down for this? It'll make me feel better if we're on equal grounds."

Sasuke nodded and sat across from her on the floor, waiting for her to speak her mind.

It was a few minutes later before Miyako finally built up the courage to speak. "Now, just know I kept this from you because Itachi-kun asked me to. But it's recently been brought to my attention that it'll probably be best for you to know now, from me, than from some other source. Like an enemy."

Sasuke sat up straighter, he could tell that whatever he was about to hear would change things. Though how much it will change, he wasn't sure, but he could take a guess considering Miyako's nervousness.

Miyako took a deep breath in before letting it out slowly in the hopes of calming her racing heart. It didn't help. "Eight years ago, there was unrest between the Uchiha Clan and the rest of the village. This was brought on by the fact that there were rumours that it was an Uchiha who controlled the Kyuubi that attacked Konohagakure seven years before."

Sasuke frowned, having not known this previously, but nodded for Miyako to keep going, wondering why she was bringing this up suddenly.

"The Uchiha were pushed to the fringes of society, and this caused anger within the clan. They started to plan a coup d'état against Konoha. Long story short, Itachi was ordered by the village elders – thinking it was the will of the Sandaime – to massacre the clan, stopping the coup before it could truly begin. In return. He can leave you alive to continue the clan, as long as he became a rouge and joined the Akatsuki to leak information to the village," Miyako explained quickly, watching as Sasuke's face slowly turned to one of shock, horror, pain, and furious anger.

The next thing Miyako knew, she was pinned against the floor of the room, Sasuke hovering above her and hands around her throat. His Sharingan blazed in blind fury and – for the first time in a long time – Miyako truly felt fear for her own wellbeing.

"Tell me you're lying," Sasuke growled out, making Miyako whimper.

"I-I'm not," Miyako stuttered out as Sasuke loosened his grip around her throat enough so she could talk. "I'm sorry Sasuke, Itachi doesn't want you to know, but I _had_ to tell you this. I didn't want you to kill Itachi and then find out from someone else. Please, Sasuke, Itachi did this to protect you and the village," Miyako tried to reason as tears fell out of Sasuke's eyes and dropped onto her face.

"T-that idiot," Sasuke muttered with clenched teeth, releasing Miyako but remaining on top of her has he shook in frustrated despair. "I'm going to kill them for what they did to him. For what they did to _my clan!"_

Miyako raised her arms and pulled Sasuke down on top of her, giving him a hug as he broke down in her arms. "Don't hate the village. Hate the elders for ordering the massacre. Kami knows I want to kill them for the massacre of my own clan."

She sat up and laid Sasuke on her lap, running her hands through his thick hair as he kept crying. Sasuke had no idea what to do with himself at this news. He wanted revenge, but – most of all, he wanted his big brother back. He wanted his family.

...

Itachi paused in his steps as a familiar falcon circled him. He raised his right arm and the falcon landed. Itachi took the letter from its leg and the falcon poofed away. Itachi opened the letter and froze at the words on it.

_Itachi,_

_Please don't hate me for this, but I'm telling Sasuke the truth. I had a revelation that two certain Uchiha might use their knowledge of the massacre to turn Sasuke against the village after your death, and I know I probably wouldn't be able to change his mind if that were to happen. _

_We are currently in Jamibiro in the Land of Fire. Come quick._

_Please understand,_

_Miyako_

Kisame stopped his walking to see a shell-shocked Uchiha behind him. Frowning, he walked up to the Uchiha and read the note upside down, eyes widening at the note.

"What's the truth of the massacre, Itachi?" Kisame questioned as Itachi burned the note with a small fire jutsu.

"We have to go find my brother," Itachi stated before rushing off, Kisame following behind, confused at the sudden change in plans but not questioning his partner, after all, he had too much respect for Itachi to pry too deeply into his affairs.

What both criminals failed to notice was Zetsu spying on them. He smirked before fading into the tree he was hiding in and appearing before Tobi who was currently alone in his base with Hisoka.

"Miyako is going to tell Sasuke the truth behind the massacre," Zetsu stated plainly, and Tobi's eye widened in surprise.

"I didn't expect _that_ to happen. Get Hisoka, we have an Uchiha to turn against the village," Tobi ordered the plant-man, who nodded before vanishing.

A few minutes later, Hisoka entered the room, sweat dripping down his back as he had been training when he got the news from Zetsu. "Are we really going to get him? And Miyako too?"

Tobi nodded. "They're currently in Jamibiro. Let's go, we need to get there before Itachi does."

...

"Tellme again why _we're_ babysitting Ainu-chan?" Suigetsu muttered in annoyance as he, Jūgo, and Karin sat in a soba restaurant a few doors down from the inn where they were staying for the night.

"Because Miyako-san needed to give Sasuke-kun some bad news, She wanted Ainu-chan safe from him in case he lashed out," Karin replied as she fed Ainu some of the mashed sweet potatoes that the restaurant owner had gotten her.

"It couldn't be _that_ bad," Suigetsu whined.

"It is," Karin stated and then cooed at Ainu. She adored the little baby, and she wasn't sure why that was. maybe it was her womanly instincts kicking in or something else as ridiculous as that.

"You seem to know what the big news is," Jūgo stated simply as he ate his noodles.

"That's because I do," Karin replied simply, her gaze falling to Suigetsu as he went to open his mouth. "And no, I'm not telling you. You'll have to wait until Sasuke-kun or Miyako-san tells you. I only found by pure fluke, and I don't know the details."

"Well, it looks like we won't have to wait much more," Jūgo said as he gazed out of the shop where Miyako stood, awaiting them to notice her. He waved her in and she joined the group of four at the table.

"How's Sasuke-kun?" Karin asked, only to gasp as she noticed the bruising around Miyako's neck. "Did he do that to you?"

"Hmm?" Miyako looked up in confusion before touching her neck and nodding in answer.

"That bastard!" Suigetsu snapped in anger, he happened to like Miyako and didn't like the thought of her getting hurt because of Sasuke's anger problems.

"He was distraught after I told him the truth surrounding Itachi. I only just got him to calm, down. He's now resting in his room, though I don't want to leave him for too long. I thought you guys deserved an explanation," Miyako explained.

"What happened?" Jūgo questioned, and Miyako then explained the truth surrounding the Uchiha Massacre to them, getting looks of shock from all three teens, even Karin, who didn't know the details behind the event, was shocked.

"What's he going to do now?" Jūgo asked, and Miyako shook her head.

"He doesn't have a plan at the moment. But I'm sure he will soon. For now, rest up. It looks like we'll be here for a couple of extra days to a week. So, enjoy your time off. I'm going to go back to Sasuke," Miyako stated as she stood up and grabbed Ainu from Karin, who looked nervous. "Thank you for watching her whilst I dealt with Sasuke. I'll take it from here. She should be safe now."

Miyako made her way back to the inn, waving to the receptionist before heading up to Sasuke's room. She knocked on the door before entering to find Sasuke standing, looking out the window with a frown on his face.

"I told them" Miyako stated she closed the door and place Ainu on the floor so the little girl could crawl around. "They want to know your plan for the future."

"Hn," he grunted out.

"I hope Ainu doesn't develop that verbal tic. It's quite annoying," Miyako stated as she walked up to the wall beside the window, leaning against it, her gaze on her daughter.

"You sent a letter to Itachi, right?"

"Hm," Miyako hummed in agreement. "I suspect he's already on his way here. Why do you ask?"

"We'll stay here until Itachi arrives. I want to talk to him. If I don't have to search for him, the better," Sasuke explained, making Miyako nod in agreement to his plan. "Did you send any other letters?"

"No. Just to Itachi-kun," Miyako lied, she knew if she told Sasuke that she contacted Konohagakure he'd probably skin her alive. And she preferred her skin attached to her body, thank you very much.

"Why don't I believe you," Sasuke replied with a smirk on his lips, eyeing Miyako from the corner of his eye.

"Because you know I've been writing to Tsunade-sama since we left Konohagakure?" Miyako replied. "And, before you ask, yes, I did tell her that you killed Orochimaru, but I didn't tell her where we're currently locate. I also warned her that I was going to tell you the truth."

Sasuke's eyes hardened. "So, she knows the truth?"

"Itachi's been reporting the Akatsuki's movement to the Hokage for years now. He writes a report and then gives it to Jiraiya-sama, who then give it the Hokage," Miyako explained wearily. "So, of course she knows the truth surrounding the massacre."

Sasuke frowned.

"You know, if Itachi-kun wants to, we can move back to Konoha," Miyako states, and Sasuke snorted in disbelief.

"I refuse to be loyal to _that_ village. Even if my clan co-founded it. Not until the current elders are removed from the positions at least," Sasuke sneered as he looked down to Ainu who was now tugging on his pants. He leant down and picked her up.

"Sa!" Ainu announced happily, clapping her hands together.

"I don't want her near them," Sasuke added. "They'll use her, and I can't risk that."

Miyako smilled, proud of Sasuke's love and overprotectiveness for his niece. "I fear the same things as you when it comes to Ainu. It's why I didn't return to Konoha upon having her. That, and my love for you.

Sasuke let out a small smile as Ainu pulled on his hair. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he too loved Miyako. He saw her as an older sister, and an unofficial member of his clan. She, Ainu, and – once again after so many years – Itachi were all he had for family, and whilst he would love to have his mother and father back, he was happy with who he was now. No matter how misguided he was.


End file.
